Just What He Always Wanted
by coolgurl4eva
Summary: AU.Harry finds out that he has an actual family. But who are they? What kind of changes will this bring to his life? HG RHr, Powerful Harry! Definately not HBP or DH compliant...post OOTP!
1. Chapter 1:Hedwig's Find

Harry Potter was sitting on his bed looking through his 5th year defense book, but he wasn't really paying attention to the contents because his mind was on the events of about a month before at the Department of Mysteries. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Feelings of guilt and longing washed over him. He also had a lot of pent up anger inside of him. He was angry at himself for running off and causing his godfather to die, he was angry at Snape for not telling him how to properly clear his mind, and lastly, he was somewhat angry at Dumbledore for springing the prophecy on him so soon after his godfather died.

He didn't know what to do about the things he felt. The Dursley's ignored him except for meals, since they were scared of what "Mad-Eye" Moody would do to them if they even so much as looked at him, although he didn't mind that because he didn't like them anyway. He couldn't talk to Ron or Hermione because the owls could be intercepted and he wouldn't want to risk their safety. The only one he _could _talk to was Hedwig, his snowy owl, because she too, shared his predicament of being locked up in a room with nowhere to go, except she could go out at night to hunt because she'd seem less conspicuous then.

He lay on his bed with an air of defeat. How in the world was he supposed to beat the "evil" Voldemort? He was just Harry. There wasn't anything special about him. He had no special powers and he didn't think he was smart like Hermione, and he wasn't good at anything except for flying. He pondered this and thought about all the times he wished he had a family. He used to dream that someone would come and take him away from his relatives. Now his chance for a family was gone.

"What am I going to do Hedwig? Sirius is dead, it's all my fault, and I can't talk to my friends because no one can help me with killing Voldie." At this point Hedwig flew over to Harry's open trunk and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

"What's this, girl?" Harry unfolded the parchment, looked at it, and realized it was a letter he'd never read before. " But who **is **it from?" Harry wondered. He didn't remember getting any letters this summer so it must have been sometime before that. He decided to read it and see.


	2. Chapter 2:The Letter

Harry looked down at the piece of parchment in his hands and started to read:

"_Dear Harry,_

_ I know we have only known each other for a few years, well, I knew you when you were a baby, of course, what kind of godfather would I be if I wouln't have been there for important events in your younger life? I realize that the past few days have been rough for you, what with your best mate's dad getting bit by a giant snake, and all, but you know what, Harry? You are one of the best people I know. Don't push away your friends, because if you do that, who's going to be there in your place? I know, I tried to do that with my friends, and that's the worst possible thing that you can do. By this point in the letter, you're probably thinking, "Sirius has turned in to a sap. Run for the hills!" but really I'm not. Now there are things that I have to tell you that if I told you in front of your friends, they'd freak out or something, and you know Molly wouldn't leave me alone with you for very long, I might corrupt your mind, or something, so I'm telling you it in a letter._

_ Point number 1: Harry, get yourself a girl! You can't be a proper Marauder if you don't have a girlfriend. Even Moony has a girl. (Well, sort of. Don't tell him I said that though.) He has a big crush on my dear cousin Nymphadora. Now I've noticed you checking out that Weasley girl, don't think I haven't, I am after all the best looking and most talented Marauder. Ask her out, you know she likes you anyhow, even if she says she's given up on you. _

_ As I write this, sitting at the kitchen table in Grimmauld Place, Moony is sitting across from me drinking hot chocolate. Did you ever notice how the man **always **has chocolate? Anyhow, he has now decided to write a little bit to you. Don't ask me what he's going to write, probably something long and boring, and he'll probably tell you to do your homework a few times. (He was like the Hermione of our group)_

_** Hello, Harry. Since Sirius is rambling, I thought I'd tell you some things you actually do need to know, although I do agree with him about the whole Ginny thing. You two remind me of a time when life was much simpler, James was alive, and Peter wasn't a traitorous rat. The reason why Sirius started this letter was to tell you some things about your family you need to know before you turn 16."**_

At this point in the letter, Harry stopped reading and put down the parchment. He thought about what Sirius and Moony had said so far. He didn't know what to think. His emotions ranged from sadness to joy that he had one last bit of Sirius to hold on to, to embarrassment of Sirius's discovery that he had feelings for his best friend's little sister. He looked at his watch, which his friend's had given him for an early birthday present, and realized that it was nearly 9:30 at night, and that he'd been reading it for nearly 3 hours. Then he realized that for the first time since Sirius's death, he wasn't feeling guilty anymore. He vowed that the next time he saw Ginny he would ask her out. He stayed awake for a while longer, just thinking and planning. Maybe he'd be normal some day, but he didn't think that would be any time soon. He set his glasses and the letter on his nightstand, and went to sleep, not knowing that the next few days would be the strangest of his already strange life.

A/n: This is my first fanfic, so if you are going to review please do. There is a lot more action in later chapters, these first few just set up important plot points. The later chapters are also much longer.


	3. Chapter 3: Harry's Confusion

In the morning, Harry got up, put his glasses on, and picked up his letter from Sirius. He found the place in it where Moony had written and continued reading.

"…**_Sirius needed to tell you a few things about your family before you turn 16. You see, you aren't a half-blood as you've been told because both of your parents are pure blooded. I can't tell you much more about that because you'll find that out later from someone else. It's not my place to say. Did anyone tell you that I am your godfather also? They probably didn't, you know, because I'm an "evil" werewolf, after all. Well, Sirius thinks he can control himself enough to be "serious" right now so I will return this letter to him. _**

_ Thanks, Moony. You're not evil; you're just a chocoholic. Anyway, your family line goes all the way back to Merlin. He's your great, great, great, great, well, he's your really great grandpa. Several generations passed, and Merlin's descendant, Godric Gryfindore, married Rowena Ravenclaw. That would make you a descendant of three of the most powerful magical beings ever to live. They would teach you about these things at school, but we all know Professor Binns loves goblin wars waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too much for his own ghostly good. You may be wondering why I am telling you this; you may think that Azkaban has driven me crazy. Well, you would be wrong there. (I was crazy before then.)"_

Harry let out a laugh at Sirius's humor. It was a real laugh that he hadn't done in a long time.

"_Moony says that I am crazy. Oh well. Harry, you are going to be a very, very, very powerful wizard someday. Every male in your family goes through a "coming of age" ceremony on their 16th birthday, which unblocks their powers. Apparently, when you fall asleep on the night before your birthday, that's when the powers are unblocked; you get a "glow" around you. The color of the "glow" is an indication of how powerful you will be. Someone, I don't know exactly who, will be at your house on that night. There are some other things that I can't tell you, it's not my place, but you will probably find out on July 31. Bye, Kiddo. Remember Remus and I are there if you ever need anything. Hmmmmmm. Maybe I give you money to buy him some new robes. _

_Sirius. _

_P.S. This letter is charmed to appear sometime between July 25, and July 28. I am adding this postscript in June. I just got the message that you're at the Department of Mysteries. If I should die trying to save you, don't linger on my death. Concentrate on beating old Moldy-Shorts and you'll be okay. I know you can beat him. Prank the Slytherins for me, kid." _

Harry was extremely confused by all the information he had just received. He was related to not just one of the founders but also another one? And Merlin? Wow! He felt as if someone had both Confunded and given him a Cheering Charm at the same time. Well, if Sirius wanted him to go on and be happy, that was what he was going to do. Now all he had to do was wait for his birthday in a few days, and see what would happen then.

A/n: Thanks for reviewing for those who have, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I should be getting more chapters up later in the week.


	4. Chapter 4: Birthday Secrets

Harry woke up on July 30, to find Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, perched upon his dresser. "What in Merlin's name is Fawkes doing in my bedroom?" Harry thought. "It must be important for him to be sending Fawkes." The phoenix flew over to Harry and stuck out his leg. Harry pulled of the parchment and read,

"_Harry, _

_I will be coming to your house at approximately 10:00 a.m. today. I will stay throughout your birthday, in order to tell you some important things about your family. I will be apparating directly into your room. It will not be necessary to tell the Durselys that I will be there, since I wrote them earlier._

_Cordially, _

_Albus Dumbledore"_

Harry quickly straightened up his room and got dressed so that he would be presentable when the Headmaster arrived. He looked at his watch and decided that he had enough time to run downstairs to grab some thing to eat. His "family" happened to be gone so he didn't have to worry about being seen. He opened the door to his room to find Albus Dumbledore in all his wizarding finery sitting in a fluffy, purple, conjured chair. He was wearing orange robes with a purple pointy hat. "I hope you haven't been waiting long, sir."

"Oh, no, m'boy. Not long at all. I was just looking through this delightful Muggle book about a wizard with a long, white beard and a pointy hat. Muggles sure are interesting aren't they?"

Harry was a bit uncomfortable; being that the last time he saw this man he trashed his office.

" Right, sir. You said in your letter that you were going to tell me about my family, or something. Sirius mentioned a bit in his letter, but he was a bit vague"

"But before we go on to those things, I need a bit of tea. You wouldn't happen to have a tea pot around here would you?"

" No, sir. I'm afraid not." Harry shook his head. Why in the world would he, of all people, have a pot of tea in his room?

" I shall simply conjure some then." With a wave of his wand, a beautifully crafted tea set appeared on the edge of Harry's bed along with some cookies. "Harry, when we talked at the end of the school year, I promised you that I wouldn't keep any secrets from you. So, in honor of that promise, I am going to tell you something that only three people currently know. James and Lily weren't your parents. Although you are still related to James, he's your brother."

At this revelation, Harry's mind started to race. If James wasn't his father, who was? He figured that Dumbledore would reveal this to him in time, so he didn't question it. Yet.

"Harry, to explain why you were placed with James, I need to start all the way back at the Founders. You see, after Slytherin left the school, he decided to get revenge upon Godric and Rowena. The years went on and this feud between the families continued. The Gryfindors changed their names to protect their family. As you very well know, this fight continues until this very day. You maybe wondering why your real parents gave you up to protect you, well, Voldemort was after your father because he had defeated his idol, Grindlewald." He paused for a moment to let this soak in. Harry was quite shocked because …

"Wait. YOU are my father?"

"Yes, Harry. Your mother is also alive. You currently know her as your head of house."

"So, do I have any more siblings besides James?"

"Yes, Professor Snape is your brother also. He's James's twin. He never really hated you Harry. He just had to do that because he couldn't let it out that you're the only Griffindor the Head of Slytherin likes. You'll find that out when you meet him tomorrow." They spent the rest of the day discussing Harry's past school years and other things.

When Harry realized that it was beginning to get dark, or that it had been dark for quite a while, he and Albus ate some sandwiches that Harry was able to make in the kitchen, as the Dursley's had already gone to bed for the night . As Harry began to fall asleep, Albus watched him, contemplating the changes that this night might bring.


	5. Chapter 5:Birthday Suprises

As Dumbledore watched his youngest son sleep peacefully through the night, he noticed a golden glow begin to appear around him. He knew that this meant that he would become more powerful than Dumbledore himself and perhaps even their ancestor Merlin. When the morning came, and both Dumbledore and Harry woke up, Dumbledore said, "Good morning, Harry. Would you like to see what you look like now that the charms that made you look like James have worn off?"

Harry shook his head "yes", and his father conjured a full-length mirror for him to look at himself in. "Wow," Harry said, "I didn't realize that I would change so much." His once black, messy hair was now near the length of the Professor's and a deep shade of red. "I look like I could be a Weasley." Harry thought. He was a lot more muscular than he was before, since he was charmed to look exactly like James and James was a lot less active and he was a whole lot taller, he guessed that he might even be taller than Snape, and Snape was really tall.

"Professor, could you cut my hair for me? It's a bit longer than I like it, and it looks a bit like yours." Albus let out a chuckle.

"Harry, do you accept that I am telling you the truth about your parentage?" Harry nodded. "Then please, when you are not at school call me something other than professor. How long would you like your hair to be?"

"About as long as it was before, I guess, Dad. Why is my hair red, I look like I should be Ron's brother, and is there anyway that we could figure out what my new powers are?"

"Well first things first Harry." He pointed his wand at Harry's hair and it returned to its normal shortness, except it was now curly instead of messy. " You look so much different because of the charms we had to place on you to protect you. James and Severus weren't charmed as much so it wore off before they started Hogwarts and they lived with us every summer after first year. They were also in danger, but not as much as you are, but more about that later. This is how you looked when you were a baby; I believe you got the red hair from me and green eyes from Minerva's side of the family. We will have to resort you, but you can tell your friends about all of this. In fact we shall be going to the Burrow for supper tomorrow. There is a spell that we can perform on you as soon as we get to Hogwarts. Your mum and brother will be waiting there for us."

Dumbledore waved his wand and packed Harry's magical items, being that they could purchase different clothes that actually fit him.

"How are we getting to Hogwarts, Dad?"

"We shall be going there by portkey." Dumbledore was very impressed by the fact that Harry had considered him his father so quickly. He hoped that Harry felt the same way about Severus and Minerva.


	6. Chapter 6:Meeting Mum

Minerva and Severus were waiting in the entry hall at Hogwarts for the portkey to arrive. Many thoughts were going through their heads. Minerva wondered how Harry had taken the news, and Severus was trying to figure out how to apologize for five years of meanness. He couldn't believe how much he had changed since James died. Many people believed that he was mean because he was a Death Eater, but it was really because he didn't want to let anyone in to his heart for the Dark Lord to kill.

"How exactly are they getting here, Mum?" Severus asked. He only called Minerva "mum" when they were alone or in the company of someone who knew of their relation.

"I believe that they are portkeying here." Minerva, the normally prim and proper Deputy Headmistress said. Suddenly, they felt a whoosh of air and Harry came tumbling down at Severus's feet. Dumbledore, of course, landed on his feet and gave Harry a hand to help him up. Snape felt that this was the proper time to voice his opinion on his brother's new look. With a smirk he said, " I dare say that Mrs. Weasley will have a hard time picking you out from her children now. You are rather tall now, too. You are going to ruin my intimidating qualities now. You can't be scared of me if you're nearly 7 feet tall."

Minerva gave a warning look to Sev, and Albus said, " Come now, Harry. We are going to go to my office and see if we can discover what new powers you have." They walked to Dumbledore's office where there was a plate of sandwiches waiting for them. " Harry, how are you adjusting to having a family?"

" Well, Mum," Minerva smiled when he said that, "it's pretty strange finding out that you are related to the three most powerful wizards ever. ' Mione will flip when she finds out that you're my mum, you are her idol."

Snape spoke up and apologized for being so nasty to him. He said that now he could be nicer to him since he really wasn't "Potter" anymore. Albus decided that this was a good time to give Harry his O.W.L. results, and to talk about what they'd do for next year.

Harry really didn't want to know what he got, so he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. What he saw was unbelievable.

"O.W.L. Results for H. J. Potter:

**Astronomy: O (Results Based on Work Completed)**

**Care of Magical Creatures: O+ (Best Score in Class)**

**Charms: O**

**Defense Against The Dark Arts: O+ (Best Score in Class)**

**Divination: T **

**Herbology: O **

**Transfiguration: O+ (Best Score in Class)**

**History of Magic: A (Based on Work Completed) **

**Congratulations! You have received the highest overall scores ever." **

Harry stayed conscious long enough to hear, "that's the highest score since mine" and then fainted.


	7. Chapter 7:Getting to Know You

A/n: Some of my reviewers have noticed that I forgot to put in Harry's potions score. It is an O. That's kind of important for later in the story. Now on with the story!

"Harry, wake up, Harry. We have a lot to do today." Harry looked bleary-eyed around the room. He didn't know where he was. He knew he must still be at Hogwarts, but he knew he'd never been in this particular room before. "Here are your glasses, dear." Harry accepted the glasses from his mum, and asked, "Where am I, mum?"

"You are in your new room here at Hogwarts. It's right off of the Gryffindor common room. You may stay in here during the year if you want, even if you get resorted into a different house. Here are some clothes for you to wear. When you are done getting dressed, come to your father's office. You won't need a password, because it will automatically open for you since we know you are coming." She patted his head, and then walked out of the room. He got dressed in the clothes that she had put out for him, a blue shirt and a pair of jeans. He walked out, and made his way to the Headmaster's office.

"Good Morning, Harry. It is such a lovely day outside today, isn't it?" Harry had to agree. It was sunny and it looked like good Quidditch weather. "What would you like for breakfast, Harry?" Dumbledore asked waving his hand over the plates of food that were currently sitting on his desk. Minerva and Severs already had their breakfasts on their plates. Harry sat down in one of the chairs and piled his plate with food. There was a wide variety; he took some pancakes, bacon, and toast.

"Did you know, Harry, that all of our immediate family scored in the top ten on the all time score list for the O.W.L.S.? You are number one now, I am number three, and James is fourth, and Severus is fifth. Many families don't have anyone that scores that well. We are all very proud of you. However, you will need to be sorted again, since your name is changed. I highly doubt that you will leave Gryffindor, but we do have a Slytherin, so you never know. If you are finished with your meal we can proceed." Albums finished with a smile. Harry was still in shock from his scores the previous night, and he just nodded. Minerva walked over to where the sorting hat was sitting and grabbed it.

"Harry, in case Albus forgot to tell you," she looked at Albus, and he sheepishly smiled back, "your full name isn't Harry James Potter. In reality that is only a part of your name." Harry looked at her like she was crazy.

"If that's only a part of my name, what is my full name?" Minerva took a deep breath and then said, "Your full, give name is Godric Harold Potter Snape Black Dumbledore. When you were a baby, we just called you Harry. If you are wondering why you have four last names, it's complicated. When you introduce yourself to people this school year, you should tell them your name is Godric Dumbledore, because that's what it is. Now place the sorting hat on your head." Harry took the hat from her.

"Ah, it's you again, you are an heir of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and you'd do well in either of those houses. You are a very powerful wizard, though more than your father or your ancestors. I stand by what I said before; you would be good in Slytherin. I think it would do well for house unity if I placed you there. You will have a hard time there, but if your friends are true, they will stick by you." The rest of the room waited with bated breath to see where he'd go. Albus knew he had qualities of all four houses, so he didn't chance a guess. Then they all heard, "Better be…Slytherin."

Needless to say both Minerva and Severus were shocked. "Well, maybe we will have a chance at the house cup this year." Severus smirked.

Minerva said, "Well, remember, Harry, that you may still sleep in your room off of Gryffindor tower. What are we going to do for Quidditch though?"

"I don't know what **you **are going to do, but I am going to kick Draco Malfoy off the team and give Harry the Captaincy as well." Severus said with a gleam in his eye. Harry didn't know what to make of that, so he said, "Dad, you said that there was a spell we could perform to see what abilities I have gained?"

"Yes, there is and we must get on with it if we are to finish what we need to today." Dumbledore waved his wand at Harry, and a blue glow appeared and then piece of parchment. "Ah, let's see. It says that you have the ability of speed-reading, Automatic Animagus, Wandless magic, and also you will have improved abilities in Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. Well, would you like to try changing now?" Harry said yes, and Dumbledore continued, "Just concentrate on becoming an animal." Harry could feel his bones twisting and changing. He was a grim-like reddish dog, much like his godfather. He went over to Snape and gave him a lick right across his face. "As your new head of house, that was unacceptable behavior. As your brother, this means war." Snape said with a smirk. Harry changed back and Dumbledore's eyes just twinkled at the sight of his children interacting this way.

"We must be going, if we are to make it to the Burrow for dinner." Albus said. Harry cringed. How was he going to tell Ron that he had been sorted into Slytherin? Hermione and Ginny would understand once he told them the circumstances. Harry just didn't want another situation like fourth year though, where Ron wasn't talking to him. Albus held out the jar of floo powder. "We are flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, so that we may purchase new clothes and school supplies for you, Harry. We only have two hours to shop though so, hurry."

As soon as they got to Diagon Alley, the first place they went was the bookstore. Minerva handed Harry his booklist, and told him to check off the classes he wanted to take. "Don't check DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, or Potions. We have other things for you to do in place of those. You may take whatever other classes you wish; Hagrid would probably want you to take Care of Magical Creatures." Harry checked Care of Magical Creatures and his booklist came up.

Severus handed him a prefect badge. "I will also be taking away young Mr. Malfoy's prefect status. I can take you in to the bookstore while Mum gets your quills and things. Then we can meet up in front of Madame Malkin's. Is that all right?" Minerva and Albus nodded and then went away. As they walked through the store, Severus told Harry that during the summer he was allowed to call him whatever he wanted. Harry picked out a ton of books, most on Defense, a few on charms, and one on pranks. They shrunk Harry's books, exited the store, and head down the street to Madame Malkin's.

As soon as they saw their parents, Severus said, "I need to go get some potion ingredients, and then I shall be heading to Hogwarts. However, I shall meet you for lunch. I can take your books back with me if you like."

"Sure," Harry answered and handed Severus his bag.

A/N: This is my longest chapter so far. The rest of the chapters will be about as long as this one, most of them. I have up through chapter eleven written, but I haven't typed them yet.


	8. Chapter 8:Meeting Uncle AbePart 1

After Minerva, Albus, and Harry walked into the robe shop, Dumbledore said, "I need some robes for school, as well as some other robes for daily wear. He may also want some Muggle clothing, I'm not sure." Dumbledore looked at Harry to make sure he said everything. Harry nodded.

"Ah, so you're the Professors' youngest. I remember when they brought your brothers in here… I wonder why you're so tall though, hmm, must come from someone in your family. We have a nice selection of Muggle clothing over there, which have adjustable and stay-clean charms on them. You can look over there while I finish your robes." Once again, a tape measure appeared out of nowhere and began to measure him.

"Umm, Madame?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"Yes, dear?"

"Exactly how many of these measurements do you actually use?"

"About five. The rest are just to make sure the first ones are accurate. All done. You can go look at the other clothes now." Madame Malkin said as she tapped her wand on to some green fabric.

Harry looked at the Muggle clothing, and he picked out two emerald green shirts, that matched his eyes as well as his new robes, a blue shirt with a Hungarian Horntail flying around on it, and a black shirt that said "Got Quidditch?" He also picked a few pairs of khakis, some black jeans, and some denim ones. He set those on the counter and told his parents that he was all set.

"Let's see, with the robes, that adds up to 75 galleons." Madame Malkin proclaimed. Dumbledore handed her a piece of parchment telling her to charge it to his Gringott's account. "Would you like me to shrink that for you?"

"Yes, that would be great." Harry said.

She shrunk it and handed him his bag. " Thank you for choosing Madame Malkin's. Have a nice day."

They walked out and saw Severus, who walked with the potions supplies and said he'd take Harry's clothes home for them, since he had a few potions he needed to finish up there.

"Thank you, Severus. Will you be joining us for lunch at Aberforth's?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"Oh yes, I wouldn't want to miss Harry picking out his new pet."

"New pet?" Harry asked. "And who's Aberforth?"

"We will explain about the pet when we get there, or otherwise we will never make it to the Burrow for dinner. And I, for one, would hate to miss out on Molly's wonderful cooking. Aberforth, or Abe, as he prefers to be called, is your uncle, my brother. He's the barman at the Hog's Head, which is where we are going next. I believe you've been there before." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at Harry.

"He knows everything." Harry muttered. Severus smirked as he apparated away.

"We shall floo there from the Leaky Cauldron." Minerva and Albus shared a smile at how happy Harry seemed to be. They were surprised at how fast Harry had accepted them, and Severus, as family. They all walked in to the Leaky, and Harry went first.

"THE HOG'S HEAD!" He said firmly and clearly, since he knew exactly what could happen if you mispronounced where you were going. Harry stumbled from the fireplace in to the Hog's Head.

"Ah, Al said you were going to drop in for lunch. I didn't realize he meant it literally." Standing in front of the fireplace, in blue robes with goats on them, was a man with a white beard, similar to Harry's father, but it was much shorter and he was a bit stouter than Albus as well. Harry thought that at first look he was kind of _different, _not a bad different, just a _different_ different. Harry didn't know how to react to his rather _odd _uncle so he just got up, and turned around to wait for the rest of his family to come through the fireplace.

(A/n: This is the first part of a two- part chapter. It was getting kind of long. Sorry about not updating sooner, but I had a lot going on. Only 57 more days until my school starts again. Yes, I am one of those crazy people who actually like school. I like homework too. My friends give me strange looks when I tell them how many days are left. Oh well, I should be updating the rest of this chapter tomorrow or Wednesday. Read and Review! Thanks to those of you who have read this whole story so far. It gets better. I have all the way through chapter 14 completed I just have to type them. The un-typed chapters include Ron and Malfoy's reactions to Harry's sorting, the train ride, and More Harry/Ginny bonding )


	9. Chapter 9:Uncle Abe Part 2

_Harry didn't know how to respond to his rather __**odd **__uncle so he just turned around and waited for his parents to come through the fireplace._

"Have your mum or dad told you exactly _why _you are here today, Harry?" Abe asked.

"No, but Sev said something about an animal, or a new pet or something like that." Harry said. He was starting to get a little nervous, due to the fact that his parents should have come in right behind him. He didn't know what to do. Aberforth was having the same thoughts.

"That's right. Speaking of Severus, and Minerva and Albus, for that matter, where are they?"

"I don't know, sir. My parents were right behind me; Severus said he was coming from the school since he had to do something with some of his potions. I'm starting to get worried though." Harry ran his hand through his now curly, red locks. He had just gotten his family back and he wasn't going to lose them.

"Hmmm. Don't worry, lad…I'll just floo over there, quickly. I've already closed up here, so there shouldn't be anyone coming in. If Severus comes be sure to make sure that it is indeed he. Ask something that only he would know." Aberforth tossed the floo powder into the fireplace and called out the address. When he stepped out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, he saw his older brother calmly chatting away with Amelia Bones. Abe walked over to his brother. "Excuse me, Al, but your son is waiting in my pub, and he is extremely worried about you. I think he believes that Death Eaters or something equally horrendous has accosted you and Min."

Albus dismissively waved his hand. "Oh, Minerva, dear, you go on ahead with Aberforth. I shall only be a few more minutes." Minerva rolled her eyes. "You may eat, as well; I shall simply get something here."

As Minerva walked toward the fireplace with Abe, she muttered, "He may be one of the world's most powerful wizards, but if he so much as spends a mere _minute_ more, I shall hex him so hard he won't know what hit him."

As soon as she stepped out of the fireplace, she was swept of the ground by a relieved looking Harry, who twirled her around and whispered, "Please, don't EVER do that again." After he set her down he looked out the window and saw Severus coming. "Look, there's Sev, but where's Dad?" Harry asked with a tilt of his head.

"Your father, my dear boy has decided to give you a heart attack by stopping to chat without telling you. He told us that we could have lunch without him." Aberforth chuckled. When Severus came in the door, after they made sure he was he, they told him the story. He, too, rolled his eyes at that.

"Ah, there he is now." Severus said, as the four of them sat down at a table with some tea and sandwiches. Albus walked through the door, and he noticed that four pairs of eyes were looking directly at him. He "innocently" sat next to Minerva, who glared at him.

"I'll have you know that you nearly killed your son with worry. AND why, in Merlin's name, didn't you just floo?"

"Well, there was a very long line for the fireplace so I just apparated. So, Aberforth, did you tell Harry about 'it' yet?" Albus asked excitedly.

"I was just _about _to, we were waiting for **you." **Abe huffed. "AND how many times do I have to tell you that my name is ABE, I detest being called Aberforth. I have no idea what Mother was thinking when she named us. At least Margaret has a normal name. Anyway, Harry, this is what you need to do. As you walk down the hall, there will be a red door on the right side of you. Inside, there will be many animals. One of them should come up to you, and show you some sort of sign that they like you. This animal will become your familiar. It will protect you when you need it, and help you at other times. All male members of our family receive a familiar. Generally speaking, when you die, it dies, unless, of course, it is a phoenix. We aren't really sure what exactly happens to the phoenix familiars when their bonded dies. James's just disappeared. That's it. Off you go!"

Harry apprehensively walked down the hallway towards the door and opened it. He stepped inside. The room, if it was indeed a room, was like nothing Harry had ever seen before. There were different sections to it, desert, forest, prairie, and each was positively teeming with animals, all magical. Harry decided to just sit on the ground and wait for whatever was going to come to him. He sat there for what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, and two phoenixes flew to him. One was deep, midnight blue, with bright orange tail feathers and the other was a brilliant lime green with purple tail feathers. "Wow, I've got two phoenixes. Whatever this means, I highly doubt that this is a normal occurrence. I should really expect things like this by now." Harry thought as he walked back to the table with the large birds perched on each shoulder. "Harry, where are your pets, don't tell me that none of them picked you. Then again, you aren't a normal case." Severus said.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T SEE THEM?" Harry yelled. "They're right… oh…guys, make yourselves visible to the masses please." The two birds appeared.

"You've got TWO phoenixes. Wait a moment. That blue one that was James's phoenix. I believe he named it Moony." Abe said.

"That's right." Harry said. "Oh yeah, and the other one, the greenish guy, said he wanted to be named… Severus." Harry shrugged his shoulders as Severus glared at him. "Hey, I didn't name him. He did that himself." Harry pause for a second as "Severus" squawked in his ear. "He said he did that because he's the exact opposite of you. He has color, and … he washes his hair." Harry let out a rather uncharacteristic giggle. Harry made some sort of squawking sound back and the phoenix started to sing in short bursts, which the surprised adults took to be phoenix laughter.

Severus was the first to talk after this little "episode". "Harry, you must be one of the only people alive who can understand phoenix talk and there are no recorded cases of being able to talk to phoenixes except Merlin." Harry looked surprised.

"I don't even know I'm doing it. It's like Parseltounge. I hear English." He shrugged. "You know, this stuff doesn't even surprise me anymore; Just another day in the life of me."

Albus looked at his weird watch and proclaimed it time to depart to the Burrow. Severus told them he would see them the next day since he had some experimental potions that needed to be worked on. Albus shook Abe's hand and said, "Good day, Aberforth. Thank you for the hospitality. We shall be visiting again soon, I hope."

"Albus…" Abe said in a warning tone. Then he whispered to Harry, "You know, I don't know why I even bother trying to tell him to call me Abe. I've been trying to tell him since I started talking, which, by the way, was nearly a hundred and forty-five years ago. Most of our family is blessed with extremely long life spans. Gryffindor lived for 200 years. Most of our family lives for that long, unless they get killed by a dark lord...which is fairly common." Harry gave Abe a smile and followed his parents out the door. Harry instructed his phoenixes to go back to being invisible if they wanted to come along.

"Mum, how are we getting to the Burrow?" Harry asked as they walked down the street.

"Muggle transport, I believe. Your father said something about his lemon drop supply being rather low. Apparently wizard candy isn't as good or some such thing." Minerva answered tersely.

"What in the world does Muggle candy have to do with anything, Dad?" Harry looked strangely at his father, who was waving to the owner of Honeydukes.

"I need some more, so we will be making a stop in London. We will, however, be taking the Knight Bus to London. That's why we're walking to the edge of town. The bus makes a stop there." Albus said, as if making a stop waaaaaaayyyyyyy out of the way just for some candy was the most normal thing in the world. They stopped at the very edge of town, just past the last house, and Minerva stuck out her wand. In mere seconds, the purple, triple-decker bus came to a screeching halt right in front of them. They got the customary greeting from Stan Shunpike, and they were off like a stroke of lightening.


	10. Chapter 10: On the way to the Burrow

A/n: Wow! Two updates in one day!

When the landscape around them seemed to indicate that they were getting closer to London, Minerva took out her wand and transfigured her robes in to an emerald green, short sleeved summer dress. She was about to turn her wand to Albus, but he turned around quickly from where he was sitting next to Harry and said, "Minerva! I am perfectly capable of transfiguring my own clothes into suitable Muggle attire!"

"Oh, no you aren't Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore! If you did your own, it would probably be something flamboyant, like neon orange, or purple, and have some sort of astronomically related shapes on it." Albus grinned sheepishly.

"You've got me pegged, Minerva, dear." Harry smiled at his parents' bantering.

"Harry, we've gotten the underage restriction removed for you, so why don't you try to give him some Muggle looking clothes." Minerva showed Harry the proper wand movements and he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and waved his own wand. When he opened his eyes again, Albus was wearing a nice dark purple short-sleeved t-shirt, and a pair of tan shorts.

"Ah, Harry, you know how to please both of us at the same time don't you." Minerva smiled.

"MUGGLE LONDON, PROFESSORS!" Stan Shunpike yelled. " And thanks for riding the Knight Bus."

After they exited the bus, right in front of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry, who looked a bit green, said, " I am adding that to the list of Magical Transportation that I do not wish to use for another hundred years."

Albus laughed at Harry's declaration. "Come on, you two. We only have a little while before we have to get to the train station." They walked hurriedly along the sidewalk, until they came to the candy shop, which was called "Odd Candies from Around the World". The shop had shelves of candy that reached the ceiling.

"Mr. Dumbledore, nice to see you again. More lemon drops I suspect?" said a round, balding man who wore a red and white striped vest. "How much would you like?"

"About, oh, I don't know, 5 lbs. worth?" Dumbledore answered. Minerva and Harry took a look around the shop, while they waited, and Harry saw something that caught his eye.

"Mum, look, they have chocolate shaped like little frogs. Can I get some for Ron? I will have fun explaining to him why they don't move." Harry looked pleadingly at Minerva with his best 'puppy dog eyes'.

"I suppose." They paid for the lemon drops and the chocolate and then walked, more quickly than they had before, to the Muggle Train Station.

Minerva handled the buying of the train tickets. "Three tickets to Ottery St. Catchpole. Please." The man handed her the tickets and they went to go find the proper platform. Once they had gotten seats on the train, Harry asked, " Mum, why are we taking a train, when we could just floo there? Not that I mind this. It is much better than floo."

"Well, dear, if you haven't figured it out yet, your father has a Muggle obsession that rivals only Arthur Weasley's." That explained a whole lot. Harry nodded. Thinking of the Weasley's meant thinking of Ron's reaction when Harry explained his newly found relationship with Severus. Harry ran a hand through his red hair. "Hmm, at least it isn't as orange as Ron's is." He mused. Minerva had decided to take a nap, since it had been a rather exciting day.

"I believe that I shall take a page out of Minerva's book and take a nap as well." Dumbledore exclaimed. "You'll wake me when the time comes, right m'boy?" Harry nodded.

Soon after that… "Ottery St. Catchpole! Last Call!" The two sleeping professors woke with a jolt. When they got off the train Harry asked, " Do you know how much further it is to the Burrow from here?"

" It's just up over this hill." Albus pointed to the hill that was directly in front of them. The closer they got to the Burrow, the more apprehensive Harry became. He was trying to work up his courage to ask Ginny out. His courage was desperately lacking at the moment, he decided.

A/n: THANKS to those of you who have reviewed. I am trying to update as many chapters as possible before school starts on the 29th.


	11. Chapter 11:At the Burrow

A/N: Here's the first new chapter since August! This is the 2nd part of chapter 10.

The moment Harry saw the rickety, odd storied house known as the Burrow, Harry's heart started beating at least a hundred times faster. "Maybe I won't… no, Harry, you are going to ask her out." He kept saying this over and over, each time with more conviction. As they walked through the gate, Harry heard shouts of "MUM! Dumbledore's here!" and "IS THAT HARRY?" Molly greeted them at the door.

"Albus, Minerva, come in. Who's this young man with you?" Molly asked, her eyes trying to figure out the answer to her question.

"That's Harry, actually. We'll explain once we get inside, we don't know who may be listening to us." Albus answered pleasantly. Molly's eyebrow rose as if she didn't quite believe him, but she nevertheless invited all three of them inside.

"Ron, Hermione, Ginny! Come downstairs please." There was a clamor of feet rushing down the creaky stairs, and soon, two red heads and a bushy brown haired one appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Why don't you three take Harry upstairs while I talk to your professors?"

"Mum, where IS Harry?" Ron inquired.

"Harry is right behind Professor McGonagall, Ron."

"That is definitely NOT Harry, Mum."

Ginny, being a good deal more observant than Ron, decided that he might need a little help. "Ronald, take a look. He has the same scar, the same glasses and the same eyes. How many people do you know that have those eyes and that scar? Duh! It has to be Harry." Hermione agreed, but thought it prudent to ask a question first.

"Who taught you the patronus charm?"

"Professor Lupin, third year."

Hermione and Ginny accepted that as an answer and began peppering him with questions. "Slow down! I have a LOT to tell you guys." They all went up to Ron's room and Harry told them all about everything that had happened over the last few days.

"So let me get this straight," Ron looked pretty confused, and Harry was hoping that he'd figure this all out. "Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall are your parents, Snape and James Potter are your brothers and they disguised you to keep you safe from Voldemort because your families have been feuding for years? By the way, now that you've got red hair, you won't stick out so much amongst us Weasleys."

"That's it, Ron. Er…Ginny, could I talk to you alone?" Harry asked nervously. He wasn't afraid of what her brothers could do, since he was so much taller than them now, but he was afraid that she'd say no. Ginny apprehensively followed him out of the room, and the second they were out, Ron and Hermione stuck one of the surviving extendable ears under the door.

"Ginny, I know I've been a bit stupid about love and all of that stuff, but I've been thinking about you for a while, and I would really like it if you'd be willing to be my girlfriend. Would you?"

"Yes, Harry, I've been waiting for you to ask me that since last year! I notice those looks you were giving me. I would love to be your girlfriend."

On the other side of the door, Ron looked at Hermione and whispered with a look of glee, "I told you so! I may have the emotional range of a teaspoon, but even I figured out that those two are perfect for each other."

Molly called from downstairs. "It's dinner time, and your Hogwarts letters are here!"

"So Harry, what did you want to talk to my sister about?" Ron asked. Hermione elbowed him and gave him a death glare that Snape would have been proud of.

Harry decided to break up the pending argument. "So, Ron, how much money will you make off of our roommates when we get back to school?"

Ron looked back at Harry, since he and Hermione were walking ahead of Harry and Ginny, with a fake look of innocence. "Whatever would make you think that your best friend would bet off of your love life, Harry?"

"Ron, I have it on good conscience that you've been taking bets from Dean, Neville and Seamus since third year."

"Okay, maybe I have. But I'm definitely not telling you how much."

The four teens walked into the cozy kitchen and sat down at the table. Ron sat next to Harry, who was sitting next to Ginny. Hermione sat on the other side of Ginny, since she was a bit peeved at Ron for betting on his best friend's love life.

"I have your O.W.L results, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger. I must say that I am very proud of your achievements." Dumbledore handed the letters to Ron and Hermione, and handed Ginny her letter.

Hermione looked over her results quickly, with a look that could be considered disappointment. "This says that I'm only second in the year. That can't be right. No one gets better grades than I do."

Harry smiled. "I did."

"But Harry, I got all O's. You can't get better than that!"

"Actually, you can. I got three O plusses." Ron looked at Harry like he had suddenly grown another head.

"You mean that my two best friends are the smartest kids in the year? Hooray!"

Molly took Ron's results from where they lay on the table. "You didn't do so bad either, Ron. It says that you are 8th best in your class, and that means you got more O.W.L. s than Fred and George combined! What about you, Ginny? Did you make prefect?"

"No, but I got something better than that today."

"What?"

"A boyfriend, Harry, to be specific."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I guess that means I owe you a galleon, then, hmm, Minerva?"

They had a delicious dinner, complete with chocolate cake. "Now that we are all full, let us adjourn to the sitting room to discus the upcoming school year." Albus and Minerva conjured some extra chairs in the sitting room so that all would be comfortable. "I don't know if Harry told you this or not, but he was resorted into Slytherin. He will be playing Seeker for their team, and will also be captain. I do not want this to discourage your friendship. We need more inter-house interaction, and I believe this will do nicely. Harry, you and Ginny may have to play down that you have a relationship for a while, since technically, you will have just met." Albus went on to tell them that it would be okay for them to still call him Harry in private, but to call him Godric in public.

"Albus, it's getting late, and we have a few things to do once we get home, you know." Minerva said, stretching with cat-like grace.

"I am aware of the time. I was just about to suggest leaving."

"Dad, could I leave one of my phoenixes here, so that we can mail back and forth without being intercepted?"

"You may send Hedwig here, Harry. I am fairly certain that she is not just an owl. She bears quite a resemblance to the phoenix my mother had. We can have Severus send her from school before he comes home."

"And," Minerva added, "Once we get settled again at the house, you can invite your friends to stay over for a bit. We have a lovely library and a full size Quidditch pitch." Ron and Ginny looked forward to going over to Harry's house and playing a real game of Quidditch.

"Thanks for your hospitality, Molly. May we use your floo?"

"Anytime. Just call and I'll send the children over." Harry, Minerva, and Albus stepped into the fireplace one at a time, and then they were gone. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny spent the rest of the night, and much of the next day, talking about everything that had gone on.


	12. Chapter 12:A Blast from the Past

They flooed into Minerva and Albus's, and now Harry's, home, which, by the surroundings, Harry guessed that it must be in some tropical location due to the palm trees and sand. Harry was rather tired by now, and didn't really pay much attention to the surroundings. He assumed that there would be a tour of the house later, so he paid no attention to it now. Harry barely noticed his mum telling him where the bathroom and things were.

"Just call for your phoenix if there are any problems, Harry. Here we are. This will be your room." Minerva led Harry into a large bedroom with a Hogwarts like four-poster. He sat down on the bed without changing out of his clothes, and fell asleep before Minerva even left.

When he woke up, he took a look around the room. His new clothes were hung up in a cupboard, and his books were lined up on a shelf that ran around the room at about shoulder height. The bed he was sitting in reminded him a lot of his bed in Gryffindor, and the red curtains around it complimented the cheery yellow walls. Quidditch posters, most from the early to late 1970's, covered one wall entirely. Harry yawned and stretched, located a good looking book titled _Highly Advanced Charms for the Overachiever_, and decided to test out one of the new talents he had of absorbing knowledge by just touching a book. He set his finger on its spine and felt the information flow in to his mind. "Wicked," he thought. There were some pretty cool spells in that book, and since his mum had said he was allowed to use magic, he tried one out.

He pointed his wand at an empty wall, and suddenly, it looked like a 3-D Quidditch pitch, complete with tiny little Slytherin and Gryffindor players. Sitting in the stands was a very tiny replica of his father, beard blowing in the wind. "Well, I guess that proves it."

Just then, a house elf popped into the doorway, and proceeded to announce, "Mr. Harry, sir, you is requested in the kitchen for breakfast now." The house elf was dressed in a little blue dress and had a big red bow over one of her bat-like ears.

"Thanks. What's your name?"

"My name is Sparkle, sir. I is sorry to not be telling you that sooner. I is your personal house elf. Come with me, please."

"Please don't call me sir, Sparkle. I want to be your friend. Do you know Dobby and Winky?"

"I knows them. They be good elves. They tell me how you are very nice to house elves." Harry followed Sparkle down the hallway, and into the kitchen.

"Ah, Harry, you decided to join us!" Albus looked up from _the Daily Prophet_. "I was just about to send one of our phoenixes to find you. Severus owled and he said to tell you that he'll be by later to test your potions aptitude.

Harry groaned inwardly at the thought of making potions with his brother. Even though they got along now, he didn't know if that would carry over into potion making. His encounter with Sparkle that morning had made him think about Winky, and he decided to inform his father about an idea he had. "Dad, you know the Crouches old elf, she works in the kitchens at school?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Last year, she was getting drunk on butter beer and Dobby was very worried. I think she needs a family to work for."

"Alright, you can ask Sparkle if she will go and get Winky, Dobby too, and ask them if they would like to work here."

"Thanks a lot. By the way, is someone going to show me around the house today? I wasn't really paying much attention last night."

"Your father and I have to finish some of the Hogwarts letters, as soon as we're done here, but Sparkle will be able to show you around. You shouldn't go into the cellar until Severus gets here though, because he keeps some very volatile ingredients down there. The upstairs is just guest rooms, so you don't need to go there now either. You may go outside, as long as Sparkle or someone else is with you. We shall be back in time for lunch." Minerva rose from the table and she and Albus walked out of the kitchen, arm in arm.

"This should be fun; all alone in the house, for now, with only an adoring little house elf." Harry thought. "Sparkle!"

"Yes, Harry, sir?"

"Could you show me around the house until my, that still sounds weird, brother gets here?"

"I would be happy to do that, Harry." She pulled on his leg, and off they went. She pointed out the bedrooms, and confirmed Harry's thoughts about his room having belonged to James. "You's bedroom used to belong to Master James. You stayed in there when you was a baby, too, with Master James and his Lily-flower. She was smart and pretty and very nice to house elves, just like you is."

"I didn't know that I stayed here as a baby."

"You was born here, Harry, sir. You lived here until Master James took you away to hide from the evil snake man." Sparkle sounded reminiscent of those times. She looked at Harry adoringly, and then led him around to the rest of the house.

"This is the greenhouse where Master Severus is keeping plants for his potions. Next to that is the Perching Room, where all of the pretty birdies stay. Does you want to go outside to fly your broom now?"

"I would love to!" She led him out the front door and around the side of the house. He wasn't wearing any shoes, and the ground was hurting his feet, so he transfigured some rocks into a pair of tennis shoes. "Sparkle, do you know were in the world we are?" Harry was walking on sand, and there were palm trees around the front of the house and he could have sworn that he heard water somewhere.

"I thinks it's somewhere in the Pacific Ocean."

"That explains the sand, then. Do you know where my broom is?"

"It's in the shed, by the Quidditch pitch. I be sitting by while you fly."

Shed in sight, Harry ran for it. He located his broom fairly quickly, and found a snitch with the initials "J.P." on it. Near the snitch, he found a letter addressed to him. "Why would there be a letter for me here, of all places?"

"Hey Harry," It began.

"It's your big brother James here. I know you won't find this until you're sixteen, but… I think this is a good place to put it. I just have a feeling that you'll be a Quidditch player someday. I know this, because, and please don't tell mum or lily or any other authority figure about this, I took you out on my broom the other day, and you were giggling and laughing the whole time. As I write this, you're sleeping in your playpen, snuggled up with your stuffed snitch. It's your favorite toy. If Sev is still around, tell him that I wish he could've seen you more often before we put those charms on you to make you look more like me. He's somewhere on a mission for Voldemort at the moment though. I don't know why dad thought it would be a good idea for him to join, but I guess dad knows what he's doing. The few times that he has been back here, mainly to see you, you wouldn't let him leave. (But we all know I am your favorite brother.)

Speaking of brothers, Sirius said we should make you a Marauder now. You will know all about the Marauders by now, but I'll explain anyhow. I said that we can't make you a Marauder yet, because you can't become an animagus yet. Sirius also says that when you do become an animagus, that you'll be a big, furry dog like him." Harry laughed because that showed Sirius was probably a better seer than Trelawney. "Tomorrow, we're leaving for Uncle Abe's cottage in Godric's Hollow, trying to protect you better. Sev says that Voldemort knows where you are, and that he wants to kill you. So we, that is, Lily and I, are moving with you. You know, we'd do anything for you. Sirius, Moony, Lily, Me, Sev, we would probably die if it meant that you could live. We love you that much. P.S. If you're a Gryffindor, kick the Slytherins butts for us.

Love, Your Favorite Brother,

Jamie."

Harry tucked the letter into his pocket. He had tears rolling down his face. He never knew that they all loved him so much. He decided right then and there that he would fight diligently to get rid of their killer(s). Then he went out on his broom and made some spectacular dives and saves. He did that for about an hour, until he heard Severus calling. "Potter, get your behind down here. If you're worried that your sudden growth has affected your Quidditch skills, it hasn't. You will definitely win us the cup this year, which will finally get it out of mum's office."

"Mum, or was it Dad, I don't remember which, mentioned that you wanted to test me in Potions."

"That's right. If you're good enough, I am going to let you teach the younger years. That is, right after you take the NEWT for it. Mum also wants you to take the NEWT s for Transfiguration and Defense. She said if you can read the books, and get the knowledge quickly, than there's no reason to sit in class for two years, learning about things you could find out in five seconds."

"Why would I need to take them early?"

"You'll have more time to train in wandless spells that way, as well as any other things dad thinks it prudent to know. He will probably have some obscure branch of magic he wants you to study. You never can tell with him."

"Yeah. Did you know that yesterday we went to a muggle candy shop and he bought five pounds of lemon drops? Maybe we should suggest a no sugar diet for him." Harry suggested as they walked back towards the house. Severus had to stop walking for a full minute because he laughed so hard at that suggestion.

"I do believe that we would have a better chance of convincing Mr. Weasley that he likes Ms. Granger, than convincing Dad to give up sweets."


	13. Chapter 13: Brotherly Bonding

A/n: Thanks to every one who read and reviewed this story so far…if you don't understand this chapter, go back and read the previous chapter…have fun!

"Have you been down to the lab yet, Harry?" Severus asked as they walked towards the house.

"No, Mum told me not to unless you were here, and believe me, I am happy that you are, because being all alone with an adoring house elf gets…nerve wracking. Sparkle!"

"Yes, Harry, sir?"

Harry bent down to be at the elf's level. "Could you go to Hogwarts and ask Dobby and Winky if they would like to be our house elves with you?"

"Of course, Harry, sir. I would love that very much."

"Thank you, Sparkle. You may go now." Sparkle popped away, and Harry and Severus continued toward the house.

"You certainly have a way with house elves. It's odd. Very odd."

Harry grinned. "What can I say, it's a gift!"

As soon as they got to the house, Sparkle appeared with the two other elves. "We is very willing to work for the great Harry Potter, sir. It would be an honor." Dobby grabbed on to Harry's leg with a vice-like grip. Harry awkwardly patted him on the head.

"Alright, I would like you two to go with Sparkle now. She'll show you around, okay?" Dobby's eyes were filled with tears of admiration for Harry. The three elves popped off.

Severus rolled his eyes and smirked. "Oh yes, Harry Potter sir is the greatest wizard ever! He is adored by house elves and redheads alike!" Severus went on and on in a very high-pitched voice all the way downstairs to the lab. Harry had to admit, he liked this Severus a lot better.

"There are five potions that you must know how to make for the N.E.W.T. exam. I have a checklist sent from the Ministry that will mark the potions off as you complete them. The first is Polyjuice Potion," Severus raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "…which is already checked off. Care to explain?"

Harry ended up telling him the whole story of his second year. Needless to say, Severus was quite impressed that three second years had managed to make a N.E.W.T. level potion that most people beyond N.E.W.T. age couldn't even brew. They spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up the other potions. "Wow. These potions are exemplary, Harry. I doubt that I could make them any better. If you will just read the sixth and seventh year books, they are probably in your room; you can take the test tomorrow. I already have the test and a no-cheating quill. I will be sure to tell Mum and Dad about this at dinner. Speaking of which… I believe it is about time for that." Harry's stomach rumbled in agreement.

"But it seems that I won't be able to join you because," Severus rubbed his arm, "I have a meeting to go to. Tell Dad if he's here, if not Mum. Floo if you have to. I'll try to be back as soon as possible, but who knows with him?"

"Okay. Be careful. I want you back in one piece." Harry suddenly got very worried. Severus nodded and rushed up the stairs to apparate.

Harry bolted up the stairs as soon as Severus was out of sight. He figured his parents would be in the kitchen, so he headed there. "Dad, Dad, Voldemort called Sev. He wanted me to tell you that."

Albus looked solemn. "I fear this will be a very big meeting. We need to gather the Order for when he comes back. I also believe that this would be a good time for you to be inducted into the Order, son. It is vital that you be included from now on." He turned to Minerva. The look in his eyes was one that she hadn't seen since 1945. Minerva clasped his hand.

"Do you really think it will be that bad, Albus?"

"He's not going to wait much longer, Minerva. Now that he lost his chance to hear the full prophecy, he will stop at nothing to destroy, well, everything in his path."

"Like me." Harry added. He walked over to his mum, and despite the fact that she was much shorter; she wrapped him in a hug. Albus rose from the table and went over to the fireplace to floo the Order.

"It will be okay, Harry. It will." She shared a look with Albus, who had quickly finished calling the members. A few minutes later, they heard a clunk come from somewhere in the house.

"I do believe that that is Ms. Tonks." Albus observed. "I suppose I should go and fetch her before she breaks all of our fine china, eh, Minerva?" She and Harry smiled at Albus' attempt to lighten the mood. Tonks' arrival was followed by Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin.

"Is this a new member of the Order, Albus? I don't recall seeing him before." Tonks' asked, wondering who the red-haired, emerald eyed person sitting next to Minerva was.

"That, Nymphadora," Tonks shuddered at the use of her given name, "is Harry."

"Ah, I should have known." Remus said. "I did, after all, help write the letter explaining some of these things to him. He seems to take after Albus' side of the family. If I remember right, your mum had curly hair, didn't she Albus?" Albus shot Remus a nasty look for mentioning his mother, but nodded agreement.

"Harry, as there won't be much to do until Severus arrives, could you please go downstairs and find any potions that we may need." Minerva wanted to give him something to do, to keep his mind off the situation.

The tension that had been minimal at the beginning of the evening, only built throughout the night. Harry, having been back from retrieving the potions for hours, dozed of on Remus' shoulder. Near midnight, a weary and battered Severus stumbled in to the kitchen. Remus woke Harry up, and Harry helped Albus administer various potions and healing magic on his brother.

"What did he want, Severus?" Albus asked.

"He was quite unhappy that I knew nothing of the whereabouts of Harry Potter and the Cruciatas curse was given liberally."

"You were hit by three of them, two from Malfoy, Sr., as well as two or three slicing hexes from Bellatrix Lestrange." Harry had seen most of what had happened to Severus due to his connection with Voldemort.

"Yes, I was. How did you… well, never mind that, I don't want to know right now. There was also some other very interesting news…" The adults talked into the wee hours of the morning, discussing the options they had and what Voldemort would be willing to do. The sun rose on the tired bunch in the kitchen, and soon Albus sent them off to the guest rooms for some much needed sleep.


	14. Chapter 14:Newts

Later that morning, the Order continued their discussions. "There was one thing I didn't tell you last night, Dad. Both Bellatrix," looks of revulsion came from Harry, Remus, and Tonks at the mention of Sirius' killer, "and Lucius Malfoy know that I'm a spy. There is no way that I can go back there now."

Despite the dire consequences that the loss of their spy could have, Albus was not as discouraged as he could have been. "Harry, I think that we can use your position in Slytherin to our advantage. Your curiosity will continue to be an asset for us."

"Yes, sir," Harry was ready to do anything it took to get rid of Voldemort. Albus dismissed the meeting, which left the two brothers and their parents alone. After a filling lunch, since neither Severus nor Harry had eaten since breakfast the day before, the family sat around talking.

"Harry, I think you should take the Potions N.E.W.T. now. That way you'll have plenty of time to finish." The brothers then headed down to the lab so that Harry could take his test.

"You have one hour…Begin." The answers came quickly to Harry, and he was done in half of the time.

"Severus! I'm done!" Severus practically flew into the room.

"You aren't supposed to be done yet!" Harry handed the parchment to Severus, and went to go amuse himself in some other way. An idea suddenly hit him. He changed into his dog form and trotted off to find his mum.

He heard her humming coming from down the hall. Harry's sensitive dog ears led him to the library, where Minerva was reading "Transfiguration Weekly." "Hmmm… I don't recall having a dog. Perhaps Albus let him in. I think I shall call you… Harry." She gave him a stern look. "Aren't you supposed to be taking your Potion's exam, dear?"

Harry transformed back into himself, laughing hysterically. "I'm all done."

"Do you think you'll be ready to take the Transfiguration one tomorrow?"

"I would really like to finish all of these tests by the end of the week." Harry knew that the faster he got them done, the more he could learn.

"Good. Then you will be all set to help out with Defense this year when Remus is ill?"

"He's coming back?"

"Indeed. We had trouble finding someone willing to take the position after last year, so we decided to bring back someone that the students actually liked."

Harry spent the next few days much as he had the first few in his new home. He did the Theory exams in the mornings and the practical in the afternoons. In the evenings, he took advantage of the large supply of books that his parents had collected over the years. Harry now knew how Hermione felt. Reading was fun! The wait for the results of his tests, however, was terrifying though. What if he failed?

"Oh, if Ron could see me now," Harry thought. "He'd probably smack me."

On Saturday, two days later Harry had finished his tests, his dad came strolling into his room right as he was writing a letter to Ginny. He quickly shoved the letter in the drawer of his desk.

"What can I do for you, Dad?"

"I have the results of your tests here. I haven't looked at them yet, but the examiners told me that you blew away their expectations."

Harry took a deep breath. Now that the results were actually in his hands, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to see them. Albus noticed the struggle Harry seemed to be having about the results.

"Would it be easier if I looked first?" Harry nodded. As Albus' eyes moved down the page, his eyebrows moved higher and higher. This did absolutely nothing for Harry, who by now, was practically hyperventilating. Albus wordlessly handed the page to Harry. Harry read aloud nervously.

"N.E.W.T. Results for Mr. G. Dumbledore:

Potions: O+ (Master Level)

Charms: O+ (Master Level)

Transfiguration: O+ (Master Level)

Defense: O ++ (Mage Level)

Congratulations, Mr. Dumbledore. YOU have received the highest scores ever. You are now eligible for nearly any position you wish." Harry fainted. Albus, who had gone to find Minerva and Severus, caught him just before he hit the floor.

Severus sighed. "Can't he ever read his results with out fainting?" He walked over to Harry and gently took the parchment out of Harry's hand so that he and Minerva could look.

"It took me twenty years to achieve Transfiguration Mastery!" Minerva exclaimed.

"I have no doubt that Harry will make a formidable foe for Voldemort now."

Harry slowly came to. "We are very proud of you, Harry" Minerva smiled. "If you'd like, you can invite your friends over tomorrow."

"Can I floo now?"

"If you'd like," Harry grabbed his letter and flew out of the room to the fireplace.

"Who lit a fire under him?" Severus wondered aloud.

"You must remember, Severus, that our sixteen year old, is just that. He wants to see his girlfriend." Albus said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course."


	15. Chapter 15:Friends and Lovers

Early the next morning, Harry sent his phoenixes to pick up his friends, just because that was way better, at least in Harry's mind, than taking the fireplace. He watched through the front window and saw Ginny touch down, then Ron and Hermione.

"Harry!" Ginny ran over to Harry and wrapped her arms around him. .

"Hi, Gin. Come on Ron, Hermione, I've got lots of things to show you." Harry showed them around the house, purposely avoiding the library, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to drag Hermione away from it. He brought his friends into his room so that they could talk. Unfortunately, when Ron saw Harry's "Quidditch wall", not much talking got done.

"Wicked! Who did that? Dumbledore?" Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother's obsession. "Is that Malfoy?" Ron pointed to the tiny figure in Slytherin green.

"Yes, it is. I did that wall a few days ago." Hermione's eyes bulged out of her head. Harry laughed.

"But…but… that charm has to be beyond N.E.W.T. level! Speaking of which, Ginny mentioned that you took some of them already."

"I did." Harry handed her the parchment and sat down on the bed, with Ginny snuggled next to him. Hermione to one look at the sheet and fainted. "She'll be fine," he whispered to Ginny. "I did that too." Ginny giggled.

As soon as Hermione came to, she was her normal self. "Harry, these are the highest scores ever! No one sixteen years old has ever achieved mastery in one subject, let alone three, and no one in recent years has achieved Mage level in Defense since…the 1800's, which, I believe, was your father. I read all about it in…"

"… "Hogwarts, a History". The others chimed in.

"There must be a whole chapter in the book devoted to you by now, Harry." Ginny observed.

"Actually, there are two. We have an original edition, the one owned by Ravenclaw. It's self updating." Harry really hoped that Hermione took the bait. He wanted to be alone with Ginny for a little while.

"Really, where is it?"

"The library. Sparkle can show you. Sparkle!"

"Yes, Harry, sir?"

"Could you please take Hermione to the library? And, could you please ask Dobby to knit me another pair of Quidditch socks? Mine have holes." Harry wiggled his toe through a snitch shaped hole.

"Of course." Sparkle took Hermione's hand, and led her towards the library.

"Ron, why don't you go with Hermione? We have a book on the Chudley Cannons…" Harry added another part, so that only Ginny could hear, "and while you're at it, just tell her you like her, for Merlin's sake."

"I thought he'd never leave," Ginny sighed. The fairly new couple spent sometime kissing and sometime talking.

"Did you know that I tried telling Ron some of the stuff you wrote in your letter, but he was too busy ogling Hermione to notice?"

"He's been doing that for five years. I mean, Hermione is brilliant in everything else, why hasn't she picked up on him?" Harry jumped off of the bed. "Close your eyes, Ginny." He transformed into his dog self and nudged her hand with his nose.

"Ewwww…..Harry!" She opened her eyes. She, like Minerva, decided to pretend that she didn't know it was Harry. "Awwww…what a cute little doggie… I think that I shall call you Sylvia."

Harry transformed back. "Sylvia? You wanted to call me Sylvia? You will pay for this, Ginerva Weasley. You will pay." He began furiously tickling her. She stopped him with a solid kiss. The two traded kisses, and weren't really paying attention to what was happening around them. Unfortunately for Harry, fate, or in this case, Ron, had a horrible sense of timing.

"What do you think you're doing with my sister, Dumbledore?" Ron's face was past traditional "angry Weasley" red and was approaching "Vernon Dursley" purple.

"We're dating, Ronald. It's perfectly acceptable behavior." Ginny glare reminded Harry that it was very good to be on her side… and not the side being yelled at.

"Perfectly acceptable behavior? You two looked much too cozy for "perfectly acceptable behavior"." Thankfully for Harry, Ginny, and Ron, who looked like he might pass out from lack of oxygen, Hermione chose that moment to return from the library.

"What is going on here, Ron? I could hear your blustering all the way in the library." She glanced at Harry and Ginny, who simultaneously mouthed "kissing".

Noting something Fred and George had said the year earlier about changing the subject to stop a Weasley rant, Harry brought up the one subject he knew would do the trick. Quidditch. He whispered to Ginny, and she agreed to help. "Harry, didn't you say that you have a Quidditch pitch out back?"

"I may have mentioned that, full size, too. And, we have three of those new Lightening Zap 3000's that I have been dying to try out." That certainly got Ron's attention.

"You have three?! Those are over 400 Galleons each! How did you get them?"

"Dad owns part of the company. We got them for free. So, you'll stop ranting and com outside with us?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief… a temporary one, because with Ron around, ranting was a daily occurrence.

"As long as you agree not to snog my sister anywhere where I may walk in, I shall agree to try out those brooms with you."

"We'll see about that." Harry got up from his seat on the bed. "Come on, we've got to tell Sev, because Mum won't let me out of the house with out him."

It didn't take them long to find Harry's elder brother, who happened to be reading in the kitchen. "Can we go flying?"

"Sure. I'll join you." Ron looked horrified. "What, can't the stuffy old Potions master have fun as well?" Harry really hoped that Ron would get over his dislike of Severus….eventually.

While they were taking a break in the air, Ron decided to ask Harry about his Quidditch playing in the new school term. Harry had hoped that Ron remembered his resorting. He hadn't. "So, do you think we'll have a good team this year, Harry?"

"I dunno," Harry said distractedly, instead paying attention to Severus, who was doing out of character stunts on one of the older brooms. "I'm not playing for Gryffindor. I'm the Slytherin captain, remember?"

"There goes the house cup." Ron answered dejectedly.

Harry tried cheering him up. "Ah, Ronald." Harry did his best to imitate the twins. "You fail to realize that we, as a Gryffindor-Slytherin Prefect pair, could prank the living daylights out of Slytherin."

Ron looked like Christmas had come early. Severus, who had already put his broom away, called them for dinner. "Last one to the ground gets fed to one of Hagrid's pets!" That was enough incentive for Ron. He and Harry touched down at nearly the same time.

"I am so hungry!" Ron's empty stomach growled.

"When are you not? You can go ahead, as long as you leave food for us." Ron was to the house door before Harry could finish the sentence.

"I fail to see how you've stayed friends with him for so long." Severus rolled his eyes.

"No comment."

The brothers walked in silence to the kitchen, where Ron was waiting miserably for Minerva to give the okay to eat. "Your mum is more evil than Snape used to be. She wouldn't let me eat until you two were here."

"If I were you, I would watch what I said about my Head of House, Ron." Harry whispered as everyone dug in to the delicious meal.

After Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left, the summer passed quickly for Harry. All too soon, it was time for the professors to head back to school.


	16. Chapter 16:The Train Ride

The Dumbledore clan migrated to Hogwarts about a week before school started. For the first few days, Harry spent most of his time in the library or in his room. He was invited to attend the staff meeting taking place on Friday, and he was eager to go.

He thought that, having not spent more than meals with his mother since they'd arrived, that she would spend at least a little time fussing over him. Fussing wasn't really her style though, and she started giving him directions the second he sat down in the staff room. "As you have passed, with flying colors, several of your N.E.W.T.'s, we would like you to exercise your teaching skills. You will be spending most of your time observing and helping in Potions and Defense, but you will also be expected to observe Transfiguration and Charms as well. We have yet to come to a definitive schedule for you, but you will have it by the first day of classes. You will also be tutored in wandless magic by…" As his mother continued the list of his duties, he wondered if there would be anytime for him to eat.

The last few days of summer were filled with preparation. On September 1, Severus and Harry went to London to catch the Hogwarts Express. It had been decided that Harry and Severus would ride the train together, so that Harry could spend time with his friends and so that Severus could provide extra security.

"Er, Severus? Where exactly is the Prefect's car?" Harry asked, scanning the platform for his friends.

"I'll show you. I'm sure Mr. Weasley has already been dragged there by Ms. Granger." As soon as Harry entered the train, he found Ron and Hermione, but became rather bored by the meeting. He knew many of the prefects; most had been D.A. members, including Head Girl Cho Chang. When the meeting was over, the Trio, along with Luna Lovegood, who was the 5th year Ravenclaw prefect, and Severus, under an invisibility charm, headed out to find an open compartment.

Their quest proved to be quite unsuccessful, until they spotted Neville and Ginny in an otherwise empty space. The compartment was crowded with the seven of them, but Ginny was content to sit on the floor. Harry explained the events of the summer to Luna and Neville, and just as Luna was about to ask whether Professor Dumbledore had any Crooked Wing Blimp-butterflies at his house, who should arrive, but Draco Malfoy.

"Hmm…what do we have here? Two weasels, Loony Lovegood, a Squib, a traitor and…" Malfoy paused. "… Who might you be?"

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Malfoy." Harry drawled in such a perfect imitation of Severus that Severus had to try very hard not to laugh.

"Potter? Well, well… it seems you have secrets. Come Crabbe, Goyle. We shouldn't linger with the mudbloods, traitors, and scarhead." Before Draco could even turn around, Harry was up and had his wand at Draco's throat. Now that Harry was nearly a foot and a half taller, Draco was quite intimidated.

"If you so much as look at any of my friends or family with nasty intentions again, I will make sure that you are the end of the Malfoy line." As Draco backed away, Harry silently flicked his wand, and Draco's robes and hair turned a pink that would make Tonks proud.

"Twenty points to Slytherin for keeping your cool and not damaging anything but his self-esteem. You should've done that years ago."

"Believe me, dear brother, I would have… had a certain Head of House not had it in for me." Harry sat back down with a grin.

"I never "had it in" for you. Ah, but now, now that I have you in my power…we shall win the Quidditch Cup once more!" All of the Gryffindors shuddered.

"You sound like evil wizards in muggle movies. It's a bit creepy, really." Harry shook his head. Severus was a lot different once you actually got to know him. They soon arrived at Hogwarts, and broke into two groups so that they'd fit in the carriages. Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna went in one, while the brothers and Ginny took the other. As soon as they were out of Ron's range of hearing, Severus asked Harry again why he was friends with Ron.

"He was the first nice wizard my age that I had met. The first one didn't leave such a good impression."

"Who was the first child you met?"

"Malfoy."

"I see. That would probably make me wary of Slytherins as well."

"It did. That's why I wasn't sorted into Slytherin straight away." Harry watched the scenery as they approached the castle.

"You need to be very careful this year, Harry. I doubt Draco is the worst of your enemies."

"He's always careful, Professor. Unfortunately for Harry, no one else is," Ginny clarified.

"Ah. So that's it."

"Of course it is, Severus. You have to learn that Ginny is almost always right." That earned Harry a kiss from his redheaded companion.

Severus rolled his eyes. "You're a bit biased in that respect."

A/n: Sorry for the short chapter...the next few are kind of short...but that just means I'll be able to update quicker from now on. I've been really busy lately, but I'm trying to finish this story before school starts in two weeks.


	17. Chapter 17:A New View

Minerva met Harry and Severus at the front doors. "You'll be sitting at the Head Table between Severus and I. Your father has decided to give you the position of Assistant Head of Slytherin. I'll explain more about your sleeping arrangements later, because your father and I had a change of mind," Minerva smiled reassuringly. "Don't be so nervous. Trust me; this is just as nerve wracking for me as it is for you. Go sit in the Hall. No detours."

The brothers, though separated by twenty or so years, had exactly the same reaction to their mother's warning: they rolled their eyes. "Come on, Sevy. Let's go before Mummy gives us detention." Harry said in a voice befitting of someone half his age.

"I am a Professor. I cannot get detention. You, on the other hand, can, and if you call me by that name ever again, I may use you as a test subject for my experimental potions." Severus warned as they walked into the half-filled hall.

Harry's friends were already in their customary positions at the Gryffindor table. "Why is Harry sitting up there?" Ron looked at Hermione clueless.

"You never cease to amaze me, Ron. He. Is. Teaching. This. Year." Ginny said each word slowly and carefully.

"And people say that I have a bad memory," Neville muttered. "He just told us that on the train."

"If Ron's bad memory continues, he may end up with Lockhart." Ginny added. Soon the hall filled and the sorting began. There weren't as many first years as normal, so Ron was able to eat faster than usual.

Albus stood, after dinner, to give his customary welcoming speech. "I trust that you have all had a delightful summer and are now ready to apply yourselves wholeheartedly to your studies. Now, more than ever, it is important to pay attention to your lessons. I have a few announcements to make, and then you may all head off to the world of dreams. First, the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts has once again been filled by Remus Lupin, who is not here tonight due to the full moon." The hall erupted with applause from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. "There is also another appointment to announce. Godric Dumbledore will be serving as Assistant Professor in many of your classes this term. I have full confidence that my son," he gestured at Harry, who had been prodded by Minerva to stand, "will do splendidly. That is all. Good night."

Severus and Harry had the job of taking the Slytherin first years to the common room. Normally, that would be the prefects' job, but this year, Severus had decided to do it himself. "Where exactly are we headed, Severus? I've only been in the Slytherin Common Room once," Harry asked as they led the first years through the dungeon hallways.

"Remember all of those times in the past few years when I told you that you were exactly like James?" Harry nodded. "I was wrong. You're definitely worse."

"That's a compliment, Severus." By this time, they were nearing the common room. Most of the first years were freezing by this point, by their leaders had on cozy Weasley sweaters and were not the least bit chilled.

They arrived at the common room, and Severus gave the normal first year speech. Then the brothers headed to Severus' rooms, where Harry, who was getting more and more tired by the second, took a few moments to look around. To his left, there was a small kitchen, with a table and two chairs. There was also a small living space, painted light blue with tasteful leather furniture. "I have an early morning meeting tomorrow, so I might not see you in the morning." Harry looked thoughtful. "And when would you like me to have Quidditch tryouts?"

"I booked the pitch for Sunday afternoon, so I'd recommend coming up with a sign up sheet soon."

"Okay." Harry walked to his new bedroom, which, he discovered was painted in a dark blue and had a desk in the corner. Most of his books were there, and his clothes were folded on the dresser. Harry sat down at the desk and wrote two letters.

_"Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville,_

_Meet me in the Room of Requirement Sunday after breakfast. Bring Luna too. I am going to be really busy once classes start, and would like to spend some time with all of you. _

_----Harry." _

And,

_"Attention to all potential Quidditch Players:_

_All positions previously held are now void. Everyone must try out again. Tryouts are this Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. I am looking for 6 chasers, 4 beaters, two keepers and another seeker.  
_

_See you on Sunday, _

_Captain and Seeker, Godric Dumbledore." _

As soon as he finished, he crawled on to his bed and fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18: It Happened Again

A/n: Just to clear up some things from the last chapter… Harry is not officially the Assistant Head of House for Slytherin…he's more of an elevated prefect. In addition to that, he's not really a student, he's only taking Care of Magical Creatures, I changed that from previous chapters. He may or may not have normal prefect duties, and he will be naming a co-captain for Quidditch. I will continue this note at the end of the chapter as I'm sure you are all eager to read it!

Severus woke Harry early the next morning. "Harry! Get up!"

"No." Harry rolled over, turning away from the sound of Severus' voice. "It's too early."

"Not really. Mum came by earlier and told me she would like you in her office in…half an hour."

That certainly got Harry up and out of bed. With in minutes, he was dressed and in the small kitchen, muttering under his breath about "nasty older brothers". That mood quickly cleared when Severus placed a plate of pancakes in front of him. The good mood changed to apprehension when Harry saw the length of the list that his brother was handing him. "These are all of the potions that will be covered in years one through seven. You need to know the reactions to all of them so that if you are teaching a class alone, you can correctly diagnose, and if possible, treat, any mishaps that should arise from improperly made potions."

"Good thing I took the time to read _How to Tell When Trouble is Brewing_ then, isn't it?"

Severus looked at Harry skeptically. "You actually read that book? Of course, with your reading ability, it wouldn't be quite as boring." After he finished his food, he scurried off to meet with his mother and Remus. At least, that's what he thought he was going to be doing that morning.

"Hello, Harry. Did you sleep well?" Minerva asked.

"Yes. Are there going to be any other teachers coming?"

"Remus is supposed to be here, but I'm not positive on that, it really depends on how he's feeling after last night. Professor Flitwick asked me to give you this list, even though you are mainly going to be helping Remus and Severus. The charms on this list seem to be mainly Defense oriented anyway, so you may be able to use them in Defense."

Harry watched as Remus walked into the office. Something about him just didn't seem right to him. For one thing, Remus was usually much less energetic after a full moon, and Remus never usually had the odd expression he seemed to have today. As soon as "Remus" opened his mouth, Harry knew that this was definitely not the friendly werewolf he knew.

"Do you have fun killing people, Harry? Do you enjoy killing off your family members? James, Lily, Sirius… they were all family to you." The rant carried on in the same manner for a while, until Harry silenced him.

"Mum," Harry said, shaken, "I think we need to take _Remus_ to Dad." He kept his wand pointed firmly at "Remus" head.

"I quite agree." Harry took "Remus" by the shoulders and practically carried him to the fireplace. When the two and Minerva arrived in Albus' office, Minerva explained the situation.

"Hmmm…Harry, go back by Severus for a bit. Ask him to bring a vial of truth serum." Albus looked sternly at Harry, who stepped back in to the fireplace with little protestation. As Albus watched, "Remus" began to change into Peter Pettigrew. Albus was furious. How could this happen again? With a bit of quick thinking, Wormtail was tied into a chair, and had had anti-Animagus spells put on him.

"Minerva, please go inform Poppy that her services may be needed soon. Who knows what this piece of vermin has done with Remus." Albus called Harry and Severus, to ask them to watch their prisoner, while he went to fetch the Minister. Peter had escaped once and there was no way they were going to let him go again.

For the second time in as many days, Harry's wand found itself at the throat of an enemy. "If you so much as harmed one hair on Remus Lupin's head, then you will not have to worry about how you will explain your capture to Voldemort. Why? You will be dead." Harry lowered his wand as his mother, father and the Minister entered the room.

"Where is he, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked in his normal, pompous manor.

"He's right in front of you, fool." Severus shared Harry's opinion of the Minister: both thought he was a useless waste of space.

"Well, do you have any Truth Serum?" Severus handed the man a vial of the most powerful truth potion he could make legally.

"Name?" Fudge asked.

"Peter Pettigrew, a.k.a. Wormtail."

Severus burst out with the next two questions. There was no way this man was going free. "Were you or were you not Secret Keeper for Lily and James?"

"I was. It was originally Sirius Black, but I convinced them to change to me. I told Voldemort where they were."

"Are you currently a marked servant of the self-styled Dark Lord?"

"I am his most loyal servant and helped him in his recent rebirth."

Fudge looked like he was going to have a stroke, heart attack, or both. "I believe that's all we need to know… you may give him the antidote."

"Wait!" Harry was not going to let this opportunity pass by. "There's one more question you need to hear the answer to. Did you , Wormtail," Harry spat out the name, "chop off your own finger, blow up thirteen muggles, and transform into a rat, there-by framing your so-called friend Sirius Black of all of the things which you have already admitted doing? And where is Remus Lupin?"

"I am guilty of that. He's in the Shrieking Shack."

Fudge finally decided to do something right. "What do you think would be the proper course of action, Dumbledore?"

"I believe we should obliviate him."

"He and Lockhart would be good buddies, I imagine," Harry muttered. Severus snorted at that. He quite agreed.

"Would you like to take care of that?" Fudge asked Albus.

"I think Severus and Harry would like to do the honors."

They were more than happy to oblige. "Obliviate!" They screamed together. After such powerful spells, it was clear that Pettigrew would never be of use to Voldemort ever again. The Minister took him away to St. Mungo's.

Now all that was left to do was to find Remus.

A/n: I also went back and fixed several inconsistencies with my story. Thanks to those who told me about them…it really helps to make a better story. Keep reading and reviewing!


	19. Chapter 19: Hard Times

A/n: Here's the first chapter of this story in about a year…hopefully I'll work on it some more this summer, and write the sequel too. NOW FOR THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER! It's kind of short, but I'm giving you two!

It took Severus and Harry six hours to undo all of the charms that Pettigrew had intended to kill whoever tried to rescue Remus, and in the end, they could not make it in time. Harry gathered the stiff, cold body of his former Defense professor and friend and took it back to the castle. Severus didn't say anything. How could yet another person who his little brother loved die senselessly because of one stupid man who thought he could rule the world through fear and death?

Albus met them in the entry hall. "I'll make an announcement to the school at dinner tonight. Give him to me, Harry." Harry tearfully let his father levitate Remus out of his arms. "Severus, take care of him please."

Severus put an arm around Harry's shoulders and led him to their rooms. They sat on the couch, and Severus held Harry for hours as he sobbed. There wasn't much else he could do right now, except be a good older brother and remind Harry that one day, Voldemort would be defeated. "They're all gone, Severus. All of James' friends, all of our almost family. "

"I bet that James will be quite happy, wherever he is now, that he has his two best friends back. Especially now that they won't have to worry about Moony being a werewolf, because wherever they are now, I'm positive he isn't. He isn't suffering anymore, Harry. We are, but we will go forward, because we're not going to let his death be in vain, are we?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm still going to meet with my friends tomorrow, and hold Quidditch tryouts, because there was nothing Remus valued more than friendship and he also enjoyed a good Quidditch game, or so he said." Harry allowed a small smile to escape his lips. "I think this calls for some good, old-fashioned Marauding skills, don't you, Sev?"

"You can plan something with your friends tomorrow. I'm sure Mum and Dad won't mind." The two had missed dinner, but found they didn't really mind. Severus was more than happy to spend the rest of the night telling his brother stories about his Hogwarts years. When Harry fell asleep on the couch, Severus covered him with a blanket and put a pillow under his head.

"We've got to honor him somehow. But what can we do?" Harry paced the length of the Room of Requirements the next morning.

"We could make a mural in the entry hall honoring everyone that died in the last war," Neville suggested quietly. "That way, we could cover a lot of people, and …"

Ginny turned to Neville. "That is a brilliant idea. Does anyone know the charms to do that?" She looked at Harry and Hermione.

" 'Mione, make a list of people we want to honor. Start with James and Lily, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Sirius, Moony, …" Harry got out a piece of paper and started writing other things down, and in an hour 

they had everything they needed to start. "Let's meet after dinner in the entry hall. I've got to get to Quidditch tryouts. Lucky me." Harry waved his hand to change into Slythierin robes.

"I still can't believe I'm going to be playing Quidditch against you this year. Please tell me that you aren't letting Malfoy on the team, Harry." Ron's obsession for Quidditch was well known to all in the room.

"Sports aren't everything, Ronald. Family and friendships are much more important, you know," Luna added dreamily. "Professor Lupin taught us that in second year. Remember, Ginny?"

"A full lesson devoted to defensive charms to protect your loved ones. I remember. He told us this very cute story about this little baby with red hair and emerald eyes…" She smiled at Harry.

"Save it for later, 'kay? I have a feeling we're all going to need a laugh after the funeral tomorrow. Ron, Nev, make sure that our girls make it back to their common rooms safely. The Slytherins are a bit rowdy today, despite Sev threatening to give them all detention." Harry kissed Ginny and headed down to the pitch, not having any idea what was in store for him.


	20. Chapter 20: Honoring the Fallen

A/n: Second Chapter in two days! Read and Review please!

Severus met Harry as he walked through the locker room. "Here's your Firebolt. I'm going to stay with you, because I want to be there if they decide to go crazy. There are several children of Death Eaters, so be careful."

"I'm not afraid of them, Severus. If I'm not afraid to face their parents, why should I be afraid of the children?" Harry took his broom and walked out onto the field. There was a large turnout, mostly sixth and seventh years, but a few from younger years thrown in. Harry amplified his voice and turned to the assembled group. "Welcome to the Slytherin Quidditch tryouts. This year, unlike the past, only those players able to make the team on talent will be accepted. No one will be able to buy their way on to this team. If there is anyone who doesn't like that, feel free to leave." No one moved, not even Malfoy, who was rather angry that he had been robbed of his starting Seeker position by "Scar-head."

Harry divided the players into groups, and had them fly around the pitch for a few minutes. He eliminated several potential candidates, such as Crabbe and Goyle, who couldn't even get off of the ground properly. The first team he tried worked well, except for the seeker, who didn't look like he could find his way out of a paper bag, let along find a fast flying golden ball. The second team, made of Theodore Nott and Jenna Flint as beaters, Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini as chasers, a third year named Edwin Prince at keeper, and a tiny second year named Benson Everett at seeker, were the best team that Harry had ever seen. The chasers worked well together, the keeper was like another Wood, the beaters were phenomenal, and Everett was comparable to Harry at seeking. He tried one more combination of players, and then called everyone down. "Thanks for coming out today. Professor Snape and I will discuss possible combinations, and the list of First and Second Team players will be listed in the common room by tonight."

Harry took a seat on the grass, making Severus sit next to him. "What do you think about the second team I tried, the one with Malfoy at chaser?"

Severus tilted his head to one side, a gesture very odd on him. "I never thought he would be so good at chaser, actually. The only change I would make to that team is to put you in at seeker and have Everett be on the second team. He was a surprise, indeed."

Harry wrote that on his clipboard. "So the first team would be Nott, Flint, Malfoy, Greengrass, Zabini, Prince, and me. What about the second? Obviously Everett, because he was really good, and the chasers, umm…that's Charlene Winters, David Patil, and Bertrand Mitchell. "

"Put Tabitha Nott and Edwin Flint on that one. They're only second years, but they worked well together. Anthony Goldstien's brother, whatever his name is, he should be in at keeper. Hen needs work, but he's definitely better than Weasley."

Harry glared at his brother. "Ron is a perfectly good keeper, Sev. He's just nervous, and he has an inferiority complex because his older brothers, except for the git Percy, were great at Quiddtich. He wants to be noticed, but yet, he doesn't."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Your older brothers were good at Quidditch, too."

"You didn't play Quidditch, Sev, and I didn't spend so much time with James."

"I did play Quidditch. Who do you think taught you how to properly catch a snitch when you were a little baby? James was a chaser. I was the Seeker. Of course, the rest of the Slytherin team was pretty bad, so they always beat us. Apparently Mum played, too."

"Mum? Playing Quidditch? I cannot see that at all." Harry got up from the ground, and started walking back to the castle. "Want to hear about what we planned for our memorial?"

"Sure."Severus wondered if Harry was really happy right now, or if he was pushing his emotions away again.

"That's too bad." Harry ran ahead. "You're going to have to wait and see like everyone else!" Eyes twinkling with hidden mirth looked back at Severus before Harry ran all the way back to the castle.

"Where does he get that annoying habit from?" Severus smacked his head. "Stupid Dumbledore trait," he muttered. "If he starts speaking in riddles and popping lemon drops like an addict, I'm sending him to St. Mungo's."

All the way through dinner, Harry was antsy. Severus stopped eating for a moment. "What is your problem? You haven't done anything to the food, have you?"

"Nope." Harry grinned, and continued eating like he wasn't going to be fed for a week.

"Nothing in the drinks?"

"No, Severus. You don't have to worry about the food or the drinks." You can come with me after dinner tonight and I'll show you what I'm so nervous about, though."

"You may need teacher supervision. I shall provide it, mostly because I'm insanely curious."

The two finished their meal, and met up with Ron, Luna, Hermione, Neville and Ginny in the entry hall. "You've got the notes, right?" Harry looked to Hermione.

"Have you ever known Hermione to lose anything, Harry? This is the girl who still has History of Magic notes from first year." Ron smacked Harry in the head.

"Thanks, Ron. Now I have a headache."Harry looked at his friends, who were all positioned at various points down the wall. "Ready. Set. Charm!"

Severus watched in amazement as the wall filled with color. He saw the names and faces of people he had gone to school with, Order members from the first war, and several others who had died just because Voldemort wanted them dead. Severus looked right in the middle, the part that Harry and Neville had done. There was a large frame painted on the wall, and inside of it was James in his Gryffindor Quidditch robes, his right hand holding a broom and his left arm thrown around Sirius' 

shoulder. Lily and Remus were in the other half of the painting, surrounded by books and the moon. Under each picture, their nicknames were written in fancy gold script. "Prongs, Padfoot, and Moony: The Marauders." Severus smiled. There was no doubt that his father wouldn't mind the fact that Harry and his friends had painted the wall. Severus stepped back, and looked at the whole wall. Above all of the portraits, like a title, Hermione had charmed the words "In Memorial to those who lived, fought and died to keep Light in the world."

"So, do you like it, Professor?" Ginny asked, as she and Harry walked over to Severus.

"I love it, that is the best war memorial I have ever seen, and I have seen many."


	21. Chapter 21: Never Truly Leave Us

Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand around the lake. The sun was just starting to rise, and everything was arrayed in dim morning light of pinks and oranges. Neither of them noticed another couple walking near them.

"They shouldn't have to go to funerals of their friends that were killed before age forty, Albus. They're just children." Minerva watched as the younger couple sat down on one of the large rocks at the edge of the lake.

"They are not children anymore, Minerva. We are in the middle of a war, and no one who comes of age during a war comes out of the experience unscathed." Albus put his arm around Minerva's shoulders. "I always liked watching the sunrise. It reminds me that…"

"Today is a new day. In it, we will experience new things that will either make us grow stronger or break us." Severus finished one of his father's favorite sayings. "It's almost time for breakfast."

Albus smiled. "Did you see the entry hall, Severus? The charm work is exquisite."

"I know. I watched them do it. Harry's quite good at charms; though I here it was Longbottom's idea. I came to fetch Harry, he volunteered to do the funeral, and he needs to get dressed for it."

"Did you say that Harry did that? With who?" Minerva had seen the "Quidditch wall" in her son's bedroom at home, but the detail of the painting in the entry hall…

"Longbottom, Lovegood, Granger, Weasley, and Weasley. Harry and Longbottom did the centerpiece. Granger did the message at the top." Severus left his parents and walked around the lake to where Harry and Ginny were seated.

"Harry…you've got to get ready for the funeral. Your dress robes are in your room. Then you'll have to meet with his parents and siblings, because they wish to meet with you. They are in the guest rooms at the moment." Severus saw the immense pain in Harry's eyes at losing yet another adult that he was close to.

"I didn't know he had any family. He never mentioned them."Harry and Ginny followed Severus back toward the castle.

"That's because his parents aren't the nicest people. Well, his father is, but his mother, she's a muggleborn, is about as nasty as Lucius Malfoy. His parents separated when he was bitten at age 6. Remus went to live with his grandmother, she was killed when we were in seventh year, and Lily, yes that Lily, she was eleven months younger than Remus, and their four older brothers went with their father,who went to live as a muggle, took the name of Evans, remarried, and had Petunia, the horrible piece of work you grew up with. Would have fit well with her father's first wife, that one."

"Why didn't anyone ever tell me that?"

"We all thought Petunia did, though she was loath to admit that one of her brothers was a werewolf and her father a pureblooded wizard. All of the siblings besides Petunia turned out to be magical, so she didn't like them either."

"No kidding," Harry muttered. "Tried to starve the magic out of me. She's not here, is she?"

Severus looked at Harry. "No. We couldn't convince her to come. She told her husband that all of her family was dead, even though her father and mother and four of her siblings are still quite well."

"Good. She's not my favorite person."

* * *

Harry sat up at the _head_ table during breakfast, like he had for the past few days, but he did not eat. He couldn't. Ginny snuck glances at him all throughout the meal, trying to get him to calm down.

"You're coming with me when I meet the Lupins, aren't you, Severus?"Harry looked pleadingly at his favorite (only living) brother. He was coming to depend more and more on his brother's steady presence.

"Of course I'm coming, Harry. I'm not going to abandon you to a bunch of people you don't know. Especially since Remus' mother is here." Severus cringed. "Your girlfriend is going to go out with us as well. She's not going to leave you either." As soon as breakfast was over, Harry, Severus, and Ginny headed out to the grounds, where the funeral would start in an hour. A small group of people, mostly Order members, Weasleys, and Remus' family, was already assembled in the chairs that had been set up. Severus tapped a tall man with graying red hair on the shoulder.

"Hello, Mr. Lupin. You may not remember me, …"

"Severus, right? Of course I remember you! You're James' brother." He shook Severus' hand firmly, and looked up at Harry. "Is this the young man who will be performing the ceremony today?"

"Yes. Mr. Lupin, this is my brother, Godric. Godric, this is Richard Lupin."

Harry shook Mr. Lupin's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin. I wish it were under better circumstances. My friends call me Harry."

"My, you're very polite. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Harry. I hear that you and Remus were close."It was strange for Harry to look at Mr. Lupin, who sounded just like Remus, and not see the familiar sandy hair and amber eyes.

"I grew up with your 'lovely' daughter and son-in-law. They made sure I was polite or they starved me. Enough of that, yes, I was very close to Remus. He spent a lot of extra time teaching me how to do the Patronus Charm during my third year. He was a very kind man, and he understood a lot of the pressure I was under." Harry looked down at Ginny. "Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Ginerva Weasley." Ginny also shook Mr. Lupin's hand.

"I believe your father is quite friendly with my son Michael, isn't he?"

"I believe so. He's told us stories of when they were at Hogwarts together."

Mr. Lupin introduced Harry and Ginny to his wife, Rebecca. "I'm so sorry you had to grow up with my daughter, Harry. She never was very tolerant of magic. I am, of course, because my father was a Squib, so my grandparents were filthy rich purebloods, who surprisingly, didn't kick any of us off of the family tree."

They met Remus' brothers, Julius, Augustus, Michael, and Marcus. All of them looked a lot like Remus, the same color hair and eyes, and all of them were shorter than Harry. Then they met Remus' mother. Rather, she came charging at them, wand in hand.

"So you're the whelp responsible for my daughter's death, eh?" She glared at him, with ferocity that Harry had never seen before, and he had come face to face with Voldemort several times.

"Harry was not responsible for our daughter's death, Caroline. Lily chose to fight for what was right, and if you think that Harry, or any of his family for that matter, was responsible for her death, maybe you should listen better at those death eater meetings I know you've attended. I'm not sure how, since you're muggleborn, but I know you've been." Mr. Lupin stood in front of Harry. It was going to be a very long day.

Harry looked at Severus to confirm Mr. Lupin's accusations. "I did see her a few times. Voldemort loves her. She's ridiculously ruthless when it comes to killing people, worse than Voldemort himself, and that's saying something," he muttered.

As the chairs started filling up, Harry kept an eye the proximity of Caroline to Ginny, who was sitting with her family and Luna. Many students, the ones fourth year and above, were seated near the back, and almost all the teachers and staff were there. When it was time, Harry stood up at the podium, next to the closed casket.

"There was once a boy. A magical little boy, who wanted very much to go to Hogwarts like his four older brothers had. However, he wasn't sure if he would be able to, because under the current Headmaster's reign, Hogwarts did not accept werewolves. But then, a new Headmaster was chosen to replace that one, and that gave the little boy hope that, just maybe, he'd be able to go. So he waited, and just before his twelfth birthday, he received the letter he'd been waiting for. His younger sister, just eleven months younger than him, got one as well. Off they went, together.

On the train, that little boy, full of the optimism that propelled him, met three other little boys. Two of them were pureblood, one with messy black hair and a grin a mile wide, one with equally black hair and blue eyes that showed his intensity to be different from his dark family. The third was a pudgy, stuttering child, fearful of everything. Little did any of them know that they'd become the best of friends. "Harry paused for a moment to clear the lump that seemed to have formed in his throat. He looked out at his audience, and almost all of them, especially Remus' step-mum, Rebecca, Hermione, and Hagrid.

"They were indeed the best of friends. One thing hung unshared between them, though. The little boy hid, as he had always done, the fact that he was a werewolf. But the two black-haired little boys found out when they were in their second year, and vowed to do something about it. For three long years, the three friends worked tirelessly to become Animagi so that they could spend the lonely nights of the full moon with their friend. The only reason it to them so long, was because the non-black-haired boy was not as adept at transfiguration as the other two were. Then late one night, on the night of the full moon, they snuck out to the place where he stayed during those nights. If werewolves could cry, he would have. It was then that he knew that they would do anything for him, and he made up his mind that he'd do anything for them. Eventually, one of the black-haired boys fell in love with the boy's sister. As the world around them got darker, the love that the friends shared bound them closer. Then, slowly, one by one, they died. The black-haired boy, the one married to the boy's sister, died first, trying to protect his wife and baby brother from Voldemort. The sister died next, her sacrifice helping to protect the baby for years.

The other black-haired boy went after the one they knew had betrayed them, the pudgy boy, who was one of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters. Since the pudgy boy faked his own death and spent twelve years in his animagus form, a rat, the black-haired boy was thrown in Azkaban unfairly.

So the boy, who has ceased to be a boy with the loss of all of his best friends, was alone for those twelve years. His former Headmaster asked him to come back to Hogwarts to teach Defense. He was the best Defense professor that Hogwarts had employed for years. Then he, the living black-haired man, and the pudgy man were reunited. The pudgy man ran, but the other two enjoyed the time they had together. Loss followed as," Harry let the tears that had been threatening to fall since he had begun speaking, slip slowly out of his eyes, "the black-haired man was killed by his cousin. The man was alone, again, or so he thought. He wasn't." Harry locked eyes with Tonks , Ginny and Hermione.

"He had new friends, new people who would do anything for him. Those that would be the ones that would cry for him at his funeral when the former friend, the one who had ruined the lives of all who had once like him, killed him as well.

Just because he's gone, though, doesn't mean that he, or any of his friends that went down before him, or the ones that may go down in the future, will ever be forgotten. They will live on forever in the hearts, minds, and actions of their students, friends, and families. We honor their memories by living as they lived. Expecto Patronum!" Harry's brilliant white stag burst from his wand, along with two other shapes, a Grim-like shaggy dog, and a shaggy werewolf. All three circled the audience and disappeared, but not before rolling around in the sky together at the edge of the forest. Harry swore he could also see the images of three young men standing at the edge of the forest, but he was sure that was just his imagination. They buried Remus near Hagrid's hut, just as he had stated in his will. Hogwarts had been the one place where he had always belonged.

As the assembly drifted to the Great Hall for lunch, Ginny's hand fell into Harry's. "That was beautiful, Harry. Where did you get all that information about his early life?"

"He didn't just teach me the Patronus charm. He also told me a lot about his Hogwarts years. Some of it I learned from Sirius, some from Sev, some from Dad and Mum. I mostly just made it up as I went along, though. Whatever I said, it came from the heart."

No one noticed the three silvery figures, the ones that Harry had thought he'd seen earlier, float near the forest. "Who knew dear old Harry could talk like that, Moony?"

"I did. I enjoyed the way he referred to you and James as 'the black-haired boys.' If he was pulling that all out of his head, he certainly got the facts right."

"He did. That's because I whispered the complete story into his ear last night as he was sleeping."James smirked.

"Nice painting of us he did, wasn't it, Prongs? Your hair was perfect, for once."

"Padfoot, my hair has always been perfect. I told you, Lils likes the windblown look."

"That's not what she said."

"Why do I have a feeling that you've been having this argument since Sirius died?"

"We have. Thank goodness Wormtail killed you. Now you can stop us!" James threw his silvery arms around Sirius and Remus. "I think we raised Harry well, don't you guys?"

Remus and Sirius grinned."I think we did. Did you know that Severus is taking credit for Harry's Quidditch skills?"

"Are you serious? Sirius, we have some nice brotherly haunting to do."

"Here we go again," Remus sighed. It was good to have them back again. And Harry was right. They were always going to be right by him, watching out, because, as Sirius had told Harry during his third year, 'the ones who love us never truly leave us.'


	22. Chapter 22: Happy Haunting

"Did Dad come up with a solution to the Defense situation, yet, Severus?" Harry asked he and his brother headed to their rooms after all the funeral guests had left.

"Yes. He's splitting the classes up between you, me, and Flitwick. You're going to teach the fifth, sixth, and seventh years, I get the third, fourth and fifth, and he's doing first and second year. It should be interesting."

The two walked along in silence, not expecting to be ambushed in the corridor by three silvery figures the second they reached their rooms. Harry looked from the Marauders, to Severus, and back to the Marauders and grinned. Severus just stood there with his mouth open.

"I hear that you're taking all the credit for our dear little brother's Quidditch skills, Sevvy." James poked a finger, which actually went through Severus, into his brother's shoulder.

"Severus, why don't we take our dearly departed friends and relative into our rooms? I'm sure you'll be more comfortable there. Harry opened the portrait, and everyone came in.

Finally, Severus regained his voice. "Aren't you all supposed to be dead? And why are you back? Harry, please tell me I'm dreaming." Severus looked pleadingly at his younger brother, who just grinned in response.

"He's not dreaming, is he, Jamie?"

"No, he's not, Sirius." Remus and Harry rolled their eyes. They could both tell that it was going to be a very interesting night to cap off the rather solemn day.

"Oi, Marauders! I have something to show you." Harry transformed into his dog form. The three ghosts crowded around Harry, giving Severus time to sit down and take everything in.

"I told you, Jamie! I told you he was going to be a dog like me! I told you!" Sirius glided around the room, doing a little jig and singing the words," Ha, I win," over and over again.

"If you are quite finished, Padfoot, we need to confer a proper Marauder nickname on Harry." Remus, ever the professor, wasn't really why he kept trying to subdue Sirius. It hadn't worked in life, and he highly doubted it would be any different in death.

"You sound like my mother, Moony. Do you know how creepy that is?"

Harry barked impatiently. "I suggest Firepaw, considering that he's reddish." Sirius stopped gloating for a moment. Harry shook his head up and down in agreement.

"Well, there you go then. We, Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs, confer upon our newest Marauder brother, the name of Firepaw." James turned to Severus again. "So, have I given you enough time to think of why you'd tell such lies, my dear twin?"

Severus normally cool exterior finally cracked. "I haven't told him any lies, Jamie. Nope, you may have introduced him to the joys of flying, but I taught him how to catch a snitch. You were a chaser, need I 

remind you." The grin that Severus now had on his face was enough to strike fear into the heart of Harry.

"James, is it a good thing if he's grinning like that?" Harry whispered dramatically, his hand over his heart.

"Probably not, I'd watch it if I was you. And, call me Jamie please. Only mum calls me James, Moony does too, but that's 'cause he's weird like that."

"Are any of you going to explain why you're haunting us? Can anyone else see you?" Severus asked. Harry was just accepting of the whole situation, but he too wanted to know if the ghosts were now going to be a permanent part of their lives.

"Well, you see, we, that is, Lily and us, were sent back from the other side because we were causing too much trouble. They said we'd be more use to you guys here." James grinned at Sirius.

"Where's Lily, then?"

"She's haunting our delightful mother. She didn't really like the fact that mother was so nasty to Harry," Remus answered. "To add more to what Prongs said, we're going to talk to your father and see if we can be of service, perhaps as spies."

"Right, so we'll be off now, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." All three Marauders saluted, and disappeared.

Severus looked at Harry. "Did that really just happen?"

"It really did, Sev. Well, I'm going to go to bed. It's been a very interesting day." Harry chuckled to himself.

Severus spent the rest of the night warding his room to keep away all ghosts that did not go by the name of the Bloody Baron.

* * *

"Severus, wake up, you're going to be late for classes." Harry rubbed his hands together in glee. It was no where near time for classes to start, but when an urge to prank struck, it could not be ignored.

"Go away, Jamie. You sound like a dying baboon," Severus muttered in his sleep. Harry had silence himself so that he wouldn't wake Severus. With one flick of his wand, the Potion master's entire bedroom was in Gryffindor colors, and so was he.

Harry called Severus again, and then ran, as fast as his long legs could carry him, to his other room, the one near Gryffindor Tower. "Godric Harold! Why are you running in the corridor at five o'clock in the morning?"

"New exercise program! See you at breakfast, Mum!" Harry called as he ran past.

"He dyed Severus and Severus' bedroom red and gold. I believe he wishes to get as far away from Severus as possible," Albus smiled. "He takes after Jamie in that respect, doesn't he?"

"Is it my soul that calls my name?" James popped in from the ceiling.

"No. We were just discussing why Harry was running so quickly away from the dungeons. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Minerva's raised eyebrow was enough to tell James that if he did have something to do with it, a ghost exterminator would be called to get rid of him.

"No, Mum. We did initiate Harry into the Marauders last night though."

"Oh, dear."Minerva looked at Albus, and quite seriously said, "I resign. If Harry is initiated into the Marauders, he's going to help his friends become Animagi so that they can become marauders. That would mean there would be six, SIX, illegal animagi running around, and one of them would be Longbottom!"

"Surely you don't mean that, Minerva dear. Let's go to the Great Hall and have a nice cup of hot chocolate before the students wake up."

"She's gonna need more than a cup of hot chocolate if that's Harry's intention," James muttered. "I can't wait to tell Sirius about Harry's prank!"


	23. Chapter 23: If I could only AK him

A/n: A huge thank you to my very loyal reviewers. You spur me on to write more!

Severus was on a mission. He had never liked killing very much when he was a Death Eater, but at the moment, his wand was itching to do some serious damage to one Godric Harold Dumbledore. He stalked into the Great Hall in all of his Gryffindor colored glory. Even his hair was red and gold. When he had tried to find a nice, normal black robe, or even a green one, all he could find were red and gold ones. Red and gold stripes, red and gold splotches, red and gold polka dots…he almost got sick looking at all of that red and gold.

"WHERE IS THAT HORRIBLE BOY? I WANT TO KILL HIM," He yelled to his mother as soon as he sat down at the table, next to Harry's notably empty chair. Albus and Flitwick got quite a kick out of the whole thing, and couldn't resist a chuckle. Severus' glare was so evil looking that even Voldemort would have been amazed had he seen it. "Stuff it, old man."

"Now, now, Severus. Is it really all that bad?"

"Yes. It is that bad. If he doesn't undue these spells before classes start, the Dark Lord will look like Hagrid when I'm through with him."

Minerva, a bit calmer after her cup of hot chocolate also thought the sight of her very Slytherin son in her house's colors was rather amusing, but she didn't make it as known as her husband. "You both have a first hour class, Severus. Harry is teaching Seventh Year Defense, and you have sixth year Potions."

Severus just glared. "If you're looking for Harry, which I know you aren't, he's in the highly warded Defense office," Remus offered.

"Thank you, Remus. I always knew I liked you more than Sirius." Severus stalked out of the Great Hall to find his prey. As soon as he was gone, the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables erupted in laughter.

"Fifteen points to Slytherin for a rather ingenious prank on the Head of House," Flitwick whispered to no one in particular.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione was having a hard time trying to decide whether to scold Harry or congratulate him.

"I hope Creevy got a picture of that, I want to send that to Fred and George."Ron could barely contain his glee at seeing the Potion's Master, even if he was his best friend's brother, getting pranked.

"See if he keeps that glee through first hour Potions," Neville, who hadn't made it in to the class, muttered.

Ron's face suddenly fell. "We have first hour Potions on Monday's again this year? Argh! I wish I hadn't made Advance Potions."

"I still have no idea how you, of all people, managed that feat, Ronald. Well, let's go. I have a feeling that we really don't want to be late today, of all days."

Meanwhile, Severus had finally caught up to Harry. He couldn't get through the wards; they were too strong for him, so he settled for yelling at the door. "HARRY, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I WOULD LIKE TO KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"Sorry, Severus. I can't remove those charms. They're on a timer. They'll be gone before dinner, I assure you." Harry's muffled voice came through the door.

"You're going to get it as soon as I have time, you know."

"Ha. As if you could. I have Dad on my side, as well as three very crafty ghosts." Harry slowly dismantled the wards on the door. "Don't you have some Gryffindors to bother?"

"Hmm…I suppose I could take my anger out on Weasley. That sounds fun." Severus left; muttering ways of torturing said Gryffindors.

Harry checked the map to make sure that Severus was well on his way to the dungeons before he came out of the office. "I must say, I thought he was actually going to kill me for a moment."

"Severus would never kill you, Harry. He likes you too much to do that," Lily said, making her first appearance at Hogwarts.

"How was the Mum Haunting, dear sister-in-law? She's a real piece of work."

"It was actually quite fun. Now I know why Jamie, Sirius, and Remus took up pranking. But, please don't tell them I said that, okay? It'll be our little secret." Lily smiled. "You do know how to keep a secret, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"What's Harry keeping secrets about, dearest flower of my heart?" James, flanked by Sirius and Remus, as usual, floated in.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"I'm hurt, really. I am." James held his hand up to his heart in mock-hurt.

"Guys, could you please situate yourselves somewhere? My class will be in here soon." They glided to the back of the room.

"Thank you."

All too soon, the room was full of seventh years. "Good morning, students. I trust that most of you know who I am by now, so we'll get down to the basics. This year, we're going to focus on dueling and spells 

that would actually help you should you come in contact with a death eater. For this week, we'll be reviewing things you learned in previous years, because some of the simplest spells are the one's that can save you."

Harry set them in pairs, and gave each of them a list of spells to practice during the week and in that class, beginning with Expeliarmus. He walked around the room, correcting the students form if necessary, and giving pointers where they were needed. Cho, who knew exactly who her new teacher was, responded very well to the praise he gave her. After all, she had been in the DA the previous year, so she knew and recognized his teaching style. By the end of class, Harry was very pleased with their progress.

"You all did very well today class. I want you to practice the spells on that list, including the ones at the bottom, which you probably haven't learned before. Any spells that you find difficult, we will work on in our next class together."

"You're a wonderful teacher, Harry," Remus told him.

"I learned from the best. Now I get to teach first year charms." Harry pulled out the list that he had written for that class.

"How many classes do you have?" Lily was surprised at the power Harry possessed.

"Umm… Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh year Defense, First and Second year charms, and Third, Fourth, and Fifth year Potions. That was the only way that we could properly cover all of the Defense classes. Are any of you four knowledgeable about Potions, by the way? I know a lot, but it would be useful to have another set of eyes watching for trouble."

"Lils is superb at Potions."

"I'd love to help you, actually. Wouldn't want any one to damage Sev's classroom."

Harry looked innocently at Lily. "Why would I go so far as to damage his classroom, Lily? Even I'm not that bad."

"I was referring to the students, Harry."

"Good. I couldn't have my own relatives not on my side. We need unity in these dark times, you know." Harry put his hands together, eyes twinkling.  
"You sound like a cross between the sorting hat and Dad. Do you even want to know the kind of thoughts that puts in my head?" James smacked his head, trying to get the weird thoughts out.

"I'm not responsible for your weird fantasies, Jamie. Perhaps you should have a chat with Madam Pomfrey about that."


	24. Chapter 24: Triumphs and Trials

A/n: This is going to be one of those chapters that moves things along. It will cover a few more of Harry's first classes, the rest of September and most of October. It will end just before Halloween.

The rest of that first day, with first year Charms and third year Potions, went exceedingly well. All of the students that had been to one of his classes that day agreed that Harry was one of the best professors they had ever had.

He warily walked back to his rooms that night, hoping that Severus wasn't mad at him anymore. "Nothing blew up today during your two Potions classes. I am shocked."

"Very funny, Severus. That's because I'm not as intimidating as you are."Harry plunked down on the couch, a thick book in hand. Even though he could read books quickly now, sometimes he liked reading them slowly to relax.

"Right, like you aren't intimidating." Severus looked over the top of his "Potion's Weekly."

"Why do I have a feeling that if we don't stop this argument that it will turn into a 'Padfoot and Prongs' argument?" Harry announced.

"You're right. By the way, I'm not mad at you anymore for that stunt you pulled this morning. Once I got over the initial shock of it all, I found it quite funny."

Harry shook his head. Sometimes he wondered how he got stuck with the two strangest older brothers. Ginny had six older brothers and none of them, with the exception of Percy, were quite as unusual as James and Severus.

The one of the two classes Harry was worried most about were the Fifth Year Gryffindor and Slytherin, the one with Ginny and Colin Creevy, and the majority of his Quidditch team, Jenna and Edwin Flint, David Patil, Bertrand Mitchell, Charlene Winters and Whatever-his-name-was Goldstein, which he had for his first class on Tuesday. He was hoping that the fact that they were on his Quidditch team would cut down on Gryffindor-Slytherin bickering. He was pleasantly surprised.

"I want you all to remember, especially my Slytherin teammates, and Ginny, those while we are in this classroom, there are no houses and there is no such thing as house rivalries. Please pair up with someone who isn't in your house. The first group to get through all of the spells correctly on the lists that I'm going to pass out to you will receive ten points for each house for teamwork. Go."

Harry walked around during the class, as did Remus, James, Sirius and Lily. "No, Bertrand, that spell is more of a swish-and-jab motion than a swish-and-flick." Lily demonstrated the spell for the Slytherin.

"Most people call me, Bertie, Mrs. P." Harry smiled when 'Bertie' finally got the spell right. He knew, from personal experience how hard it was to work with Colin Creevy.

Across the room, Ginny and Jenna Flint, who was actually very smart unlike her older brother Marcus, were working together well, as were Charlene Winters and one of the Gryffindor boys that Harry didn't know.

The first pair to be done was Ginny and Jenna, who over the time span of one class, had become friends. "Very well done! Ten points to Gryffindor, and ten to Slytherin. Please work with your partner on any spells that you are continuing to have trouble with." Harry wished that his next class would go as well as this one had, but that was highly unlikely, considering that the roster contained Ron and Malfoy.

The insults started flying as soon as the door closed. "Ronald Weasley! If I hear you insult Malfoy one more time, I will not hesitate to give you detention with Filch." Harry turned to glare at Malfoy as well. "The same goes for you, Malfoy. I will not tolerate any insults in this class."

This was the biggest of Harry's classes, containing all four houses, though thankfully Crabbe and Goyle hadn't made it in. "Instead of letting you chose who you are paired with, I will be putting you in groups of four, one person from each house. First group: Weasley, Abbot, Goldstein, and Greengrass. Group Two: Nott, Granger, MacMillian, Corner…" On he went with the final group being made of Susan Bones, Dean Thomas, Malfoy and Zacharias Smith. He wasn't really sure that Dean and Susan would survive being paired with Malfoy and Smith, but those were the people that were left over as Harry grouped the class.

"Jamie, I want you and Lily to stay in the corner by Malfoy and Smith. They're remarkably similar for one of them being in Hufflepuff and one in Slytherin and I need to watch out for Dean and Susan to make sure they don't get killed."

James saluted and flew over to where Malfoy was. "You're supposed to be working on that list of spells in front of you, Mr. Malfoy."

"Who needs this garbage? Half of this list is first year spells!"

Harry called the rest of the group over. "I want you three to show him what first year spells can do. I'm sure you remember your DA training, right?"

Dean grinned, as did Smith. By the end of the class, Malfoy knew exactly what first year spells could do.

That night at dinner, Harry could practically feel Malfoy's eyes staring daggers into his head. "Whatever did you do in class today that he looks like he wants to kill you?"

"I had Dean, Smith and Susan Bones show him exactly what first year spells could accomplish, and he didn't like it very much. Complained the whole time." Harry took a long sip of his pumpkin juice. "I really wish I could have some Firewhiskey after that class."

"You are under no circumstances drinking alcohol until you are at least seventeen, Harry." Minerva raised an eyebrow at her youngest son. "The class cannot be so bad as to drive you to drink."

"Do you have Malfoy in your class, Mum? Along with Ron, Smith, and a host of other people who think they own the world?" Harry's voice was muffled by the table, since his head was currently resting on it.

"No, Smith opted not to take Transfiguration."

"Lucky you."

The next few months went much the same. He got the third, fourth and fifth years( in fifth year he only taught the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, because Severus had them for Defense, just as Harry got Slytherin and Gryffindor for Defense, while Severus had the others,) to love Potions, a feat which he was very proud of. The Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years surprised all of the teachers at how well they worked together, and of course, James, Sirius, Remus and Lily helped a lot, too.

But as Halloween approached, Harry couldn't help but feel apprehensive. After all, good things had never happened on Halloween at Hogwarts as long as he had been there. Severus agreed with him.

"I know that something is going to happen. I'm surprised that the Marauders haven't found anything out. I know Dad's been sending them to spy."

"The scary thing is that I haven't had any weird dreams since he kicked you out. He's trying to hide his plans from me, I think."

"Well, the only thing we can do is keep our friends close and our enemies even closer."


	25. Chapter 25: I Can't Take It Away

Halloween dawned cold, dark, and rainy. Harry pulled on his warmest Weasley sweater, his knee-high dragon hide boots and the thickest cloak he could find. If Ginny was going to make him go to Hogsmede, he might as well be warm. "You look like you're dressing for a miles-long trek in the middle of winter instead of just for across the grounds and into town."

"I don't really want to go. Bad things happen on Halloween." Harry walked next to Severus on the way upstairs. All of a sudden, they felt the castle shake. Harry looked at Severus. They both ran to Albus' office as fast as they could. Something wasn't right. They met Minerva, Flitwick, and Sprout at the gargoyle just as the castle shook again. "Everyone, including faculty, please head down to the dungeons. No one will be going anywhere until we figure out what it going on." Albus' voice rang out in the halls.

Albus joined them by the time they got to the dungeons. "I want all of the first and second years to follow Madame Hooch and Professor Sinistra. All of the third and fourth years should go with Professor Burbage and Hagrid. Fifth, sixth and seventh years, you may either stay here or go with the younger children." All of the seventh years left with the younger years, Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle went as well. All of Harry's friends and all of the fifth year Gryffindor-Slytherin defense class stayed.

"The wards are collapsing. I fear that Voldemort is not far away." Albus looked all of his age and then some. Harry went into full battle mode. He'd been training his fifth and sixth years for this type of situation.

"Charlene, Jenna, and Ginny, I want you to do defensive spells with Hermione, Susan and Daphne. Ron, Neville, I want you to back up the girls. Bertie, Edwin, David, Goldstein, and Colin, you are going to work with the rest of the sixth years on offense. I know that none of you are death eaters, and all of you have told me that, though some of you are related to them, you hate what they stand for. This is the time to show it. Does everyone hear me?" Every single head bobbed. "Ginny, Jenna, you're in charge of the girls. Everyone stay with your partner!"

"Where are you going to be, Harry?" Minerva was afraid to ask.

"With my friends. I'm going to fight with them. I haven't been training them for nothing, you know."

"Be careful." Harry hugged his mother.

"I always am, Mum."

Harry and Severus led everyone through the Great Hall. They had to get some idea of what they were facing. Harry looked out across the hall. "Mum and Dad are gathering order members, right, Sev?"

"Yes." He looked through the windows at the swarms of black-robed death eaters crowding the grounds. "No creatures, thus far. That's good for us."

"I hope so."

* * *

The battle moved at a frenzied pace. Harry's thorough tutoring on running and ducking when necessary had stuck with his pupils, and not one of them was killed before the order got there. When Harry saw Bertie trying to take on Lucius Malfoy, he stepped in. "Go, Bertie. I've got this one." Nearly all of the Death Eaters stopped fighting for a moment when Harry let loose a chain of spells that few of them had ever heard of before. That gave the Order and 'Harry's girls' the chance to capture a lot of them, including Bellatrix and Pettigrew. The remaining Death Eaters recognized a lost cause when they saw it, and left. After they left, Harry, Severus and Albus surveyed the field for their dead.

Near to where they stood, a body with bubble-gum pink hair lay near the body of a large black man and another person who Harry couldn't quite make out. He walked closer. "Please don't let that be one of mine."

"Who's that, near Tonks and Kingsley, Severus?" Harry asked, not only because Severus was closer, but because he really didn't want to look himself.

"Lavender Brown." Severus knew that every body they found that wasn't a death eater was killing Harry slowly.

"Parvarti wouldn't have been far away from her, so if we don't find her that means that she's still alive." Harry tried to stay hopeful. If only one person died, then he'd trained them well. They walked on. Harry caught sight of red hair. Three red heads lay side by side. "Bill, Charlie, and Percy, I knew he wouldn't give up on his family that easily."

"Severus, I think you should take Harry inside now. Poppy will want to get a good look at him and make sure everything is all right. I daresay your mother will also want to see him." The unspoken message that Albus sent to Severus was much greater than the spoken. He didn't want Harry to see anymore dead bodies for a while, and he certainly did not want Harry to linger over the bodies of the fallen Weasley siblings.

"Come on, Harry. Let's go inside."Severus put an arm around Harry's shoulders and led him away from the grounds and into the school.

Minerva met them at the door, looking quite distraught. "Severus, can I speak to you alone for a second?" Severus put up a silencing charm so that Harry could not hear them. He guessed, correctly, that she had more bad news to tell him.

"What is it, Mum? Please don't tell me that there are any more Weasleys that died. We already found Bill, Charlie, and Percy."

"Add Molly, Arthur…" Minerva couldn't go on. Severus pulled his mother close. "The twins and Ronald, too. The Death Eater's were targeting Weasleys."

"Because they're close to Harry. Where are Ginny and Hermione? And Harry's other friends?" Severus glanced at Harry. How in Merlin's name were they going to break this to Harry?

"Ginny is with Poppy. She had to sedate her. Hermione is…also heavily sedated. Poppy is going to wake them up when Harry is ready to handle it."

"I doubt he'll ever be able to handle it. We've got to tell him." Severus dismantled the silencing charm. "Harry, come here, please. Let's go to the Hospital Wing and get a calming draft for you. I have a feeling you'll need one before the day is out."

"I have to assist Albus with the dead, Severus. See if you can call Jamie and the others before you tell him," She whispered so softly Severus could barely hear her.

By the time they got to the Hospital Wing, Harry had figured out that something was up. All of the critically injured patients had been moved to St. Mungo's, so just Ginny, Hermione, and Jenna Flint, who had only a broken leg, were in there. "Sit down, Harry. I have something to tell you." Severus sat down next to him, and looked his brother strait in the eye. The Marauders floated in just at the right time, which Severus greatly appreciated. "Harry, the Weasleys are dead. All of them, except for Ginny."

"You can't be serious, Sev. This has got to be some sick joke." The look on his brother's face told him that it wasn't, though. "Ron's gone too, then? Hermione will need me."

"Yes, but first you need to take care of yourself."

That night, Severus stayed with Harry as his emotions finally took hold of him. He held him as the sixteen year old sobbed. He wished he could take all of Harry's pain away, but he couldn't, and that hurt him more than anything else.


	26. Chapter 26: Startling News

"Minerva, I just received an owl from Ministry. They finished their check of all of the dead for poison and spells, and such, and they found some irregularities with Molly, Arthur and Ronald Weasley."

Minerva looked hopeful. "What does that mean, Albus?" She set down the book that she was reading, and looked up at him.

"They aren't dead. Apparently, their bodies were just transfigured out of something. Now we just have to find out where they are."

James popped into his parent's bedroom. "I can help with that. Remus and Lily can go tell Harry, Ginny and Hermione. Sirius and I can do some exploring. We've been to Voldemort's lair already, should be easy finding wherever he's keeping them."

* * *

Harry had fallen asleep in Severus' arms that night, and Severus hadn't had the heart to move him, despite the fact that he now couldn't feel his right arm or either of his legs. "Severus, we have news for you." Lily smiled. "It's not great news, but it may cheer Harry up. We already told the girls; they're still injured, so Poppy won't let them out, but …"

"Get to the point, Lily. I dislike being kept in suspense." Severus rubbed his tired eyes with his free hand.

"Ron, Molly, and Arthur have only been kidnapped, they aren't dead yet." Harry woke up just as she said that.

"They aren't? There's still a chance?" Harry looked at Severus. "We've got to do something, Sev."

"We can't do anything tonight, Harry. I'm sure Dad is coming up with something."

"Jamie and Sirius are investigating Voldemort's lair. They should be back as soon as they can find something out. I figured you'd want to know the news."

"Thanks, Lily. It helps." Severus looked at Harry. "Why don't you get up and go, to bed? Unless you're enjoying using me as a pillow, of course."

"Actually, my pillow is more comfy. See you in the morning, Severus, Lily."

As soon as he left, Severus let out a sigh. "It's not fair that he has to deal with everything, Lily. One person can only handle so much."

"I know. But even though he's lost so much, he still has the things that are most important."

"What exactly, does he still have that's so important?" Severus stifled an oncoming yawn.

"Family, friends, us… and as of right now, he still has his sanity."

* * *

The morning dawned bright, clear, and hopeful. As soon as Harry woke up, he headed to the Hospital Wing and took his girlfriend in his arms. "I am so glad that, despite everything, I still have you. I love you, you know."

"I love you too, Harry. You aren't thinking of doing anything stupid, are you? Like going to fight Voldemort by yourself or something?" She rested her head against Harry's chest.

"He better not. We need him safe here," The pillow-muffled voice of Hermione chastised.

"I'm not going anywhere until we know what's going on. We can't go rushing blindly into situations where we don't know what's going on. We learned that last year."

"Well said, Harry. James and Sirius haven't come back yet, so it's possible that Voldemort has them in a different location or in a spot that they've never been in." Minerva sat down on the edge of the bed. "Everyone is getting two weeks off to visit family and go to funerals. We're staying here, not everyone is going to go home, of course, but I can assure you that what's left of the Order will be doing everything that we can to find out what's going on."

Two weeks later, James and Sirius hadn't come back, and Lily, Remus, and the newly made ghost Weasley twins couldn't find them either. "We're going to have to send a search team out, then." Albus was not keen on the idea of sending people into possible danger, but it had to be done.

"Ginny, Hermione and I are going. Severus and the ghosts have volunteered also. We've talked this over, every night for the past five days, and we've come up with an extensive plan." The look in Harry's eyes mirrored the one his mother gave to disobedient students.

"You are the most proficient spell casters the school has seen in a century, and all of you have battle and stealth experience. They can go, if they have to Albus." Minerva was proud of her lions, and her snakes too.

Minerva and Albus watched as the four, plus the four ghosts, walked across the grounds. "For all of our sakes, I really hope that this mission isn't in vain, Albus."

Albus put his arm around her. "I do too, Minerva. I would go myself if I were not so old. Harry's a good boy, and virtually unmatched as a wizard. Perhaps some good will come out of all of this."


	27. Chapter 27:What an idiot

During their nightly planning sessions, Harry and Severus, with the help of the ghosts, had agreed that the best way to get to Little Hangleton, where Voldemort's headquarters was, was to floo to the only other magical establishment in the entirely muggle city, the Twisted Goblet. The ghosts could make themselves unseen, so the group did not have to worry about walking about with four ghosts.

"You should probably transfigure your clothes into something more muggle-looking, especially if you're going to go traipsing down the street in broad daylight," Lily suggested in a very Hermione-like way.

"She sounds like Hermione," Ginny whispered to Harry. "It's kind of weird." Harry nodded, and transfigured all of their clothes into acceptable muggle attire.

"You have wonderful taste in clothes, Harry," Fred, or George, even as ghosts Harry couldn't tell them apart, noted after seeing the transfigured items appear.

"Thanks. Can't you two be serious, ever?" Harry said as they walked into the Hogshead to floo. "Hello, Uncle Abe. Do you mind if we use your floo?"

"Of course I don't. Albus was in here a few minutes ago, telling me why you'd need it. I hope everything goes well."

"If all goes well we should be back by nightfall. If not, who knows?" Severus said quietly, noting that his uncle's pub did not always have the most trustworthy clients.

Severus went first into the fireplace, with Lily, then Hermione with Remus, and Fred and George with Ginny. Harry made sure that no one in the bar beside his uncle knew where they were going, and then went into the fireplace himself. The Twisted Goblet was not exactly the height of excellence. It wasn't even very clean.

"You should Harry and Ginny's hair color. It's way too distinctive in a place like this. People would remember a tall red-haired teen much too well." Remus looked to Harry, who waved a hand over his hair, changing it to a non-descript brown. He also changed Ginny's to make it look more like Hermione's so that they would look more like a family group than a rescue mission group. Camouflage was essential where Voldemort was concerned.

"Remember to stick together, guys. Ginny and I are going to go from the north and you two from the south." Harry was adamant that Ginny be with him. He didn't want to let her out of his sight.

Remus and George stayed with Harry as they walked slowly, trying carefully to blend into the crowd, toward the Riddle mansion. "Tommy's got some nice digs."

"He's fixed it up since yesterday, actually, George. Must've known we were coming and wanted to make a good impression." Remus tried to keep the atmosphere light. Nothing would be accomplished if they went in with a sense of dread.

"He's already made a horrible impression by killing Jamie and Lily, Remus. You know that it's the first impression that counts. He blew it, as far as I'm concerned." They got to the edge of the wards. "We're headed for the secret passage that he's put in to get to the dungeons. No one talk unless you absolutely have to, alright."

Unfortunately for them, Voldemort had decided to send out his remaining death eaters, mostly new ones, to survey the grounds. They managed to get past them with some quick spell work, and entered Voldemort's house.

"I didn't know that we'd invited guests." Voldemort stood in front of them.

"You didn't invite anyone. We rather like showing up uninvited." Harry's emerald eyes met Voldemort's creepy red ones.

"Are you ready to die, Dumbledore? That's the price for uninvited guests."

Harry put his hand to his chin, as if deep in thought. "I'd really like to have a good duel first, if I'm going to die. But, as I'm not, we can forgo the duel." A blue light surged from Harry's wand, catching Voldemort off guard. That gave Ginny enough time to shoot a strong binding charm at him while Harry started chanting a string of spells in ancient Welsh, German, and a particularly long Spanish one.

By the time Severus and Hermione had finished dealing with the ill-equipped Death Eaters on the lawn, Voldemort was no more. "Tell Hermione, if she cares to know what spells I used, that they're all in 'A Light Wizard's Guide to Extremely Old Spells, Quite Useful for Getting Rid of Ugly Dark Lords' By I.M. Merlin," Harry said, before passing out onto the floor.

"Merlin… he used spells written by Merlin. What an idiot I've got myself for a boyfriend."

* * *

Ginny was responsible for letting Albus know what was going on. Hermione and Severus still had work to do. When Voldemort fell, so did all of the spells that he'd made on the house, and they could here talking coming from a room quite near to the hall where Voldemort had fallen.

Hermione carefully opened the door to find James, Sirius, the Weasley parents, and Ron. "Well, it's about time you got here, 'Mione."

"Pardon me, Ronald, but we've been trying for the past two weeks to find you. It isn't as if we decided to just leave you here. Although, if that's the attitude you're going to have…"

"As lovely as this lover's spat is, I think that the three of you need to get to Poppy. She'll want to check you over." Severus rolled his eyes. Some things never changed. "Hermione, you can take Ron, who seems no worse for wear, other than not eating for a few days and a broken arm. My father or someone from the ministry should be arriving soon, and can help me here."

"Where's Harry? Didn't he come with you?" Molly despite having a broken leg and arm didn't stop worrying about 'her' children.

"He's unconscious at the moment. Apparently using spells written by Merlin especially for defeating Dark Lord's takes a lot out of you."

A/n: You all didn't think that I was really going to kill off all of the Weasleys...did you?


	28. Chapter 28:Ron's War Goes On

The war may have been over, but the battle between Harry and Ron had just begun. Since the day that the two of them were released from the hospital wing, Ron had talked to everyone but his best friend. It didn't help much that Albus had decided to make the Prefect patrols with one student from Gryffindor and one from Slytherin.  
"What is your problem, Ron?" Harry stopped Ron after Defense one day. "You haven't talked to me in two weeks, your assignments for this class have been crap, and your sister is worried about you."

"I need to get to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall will take off points if I'm late. I don't want to talk to you." Ron blustered past his much taller friend. "You can tell my sister that if she's going to continue dating you, she won't be talking to me again."

Harry stood there for a minute, dumbfounded. Why was he acting like this? "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think he really means any of that." Remus sat his ghostly frame on the desk nearest to Harry.  
"He means the part about Mum taking points off if he's late."Harry sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands. "Why's he being like this, Moony?"

"I seem to recall a similar situation between your brother and me when we were seventeen. My grandmother had just died, and I was jealous of James because he was going to visit her at Christmas time, like he always did. You'll probably visit her this Christmas…I didn't talk to him for several weeks, didn't let him come near me on the full moon, and I told him that if Lily wanted to talk to me again, she'd have to get rid of him."

"What happened after that? I know you talked after that." Harry looked up, his eyes filled with hope. Perhaps one day they'd talk and be friends again.

"I punched him, actually. Then we got to blows, and your mum and dad held us in separate corners of the room until I figured out why I was so mad at him. I'll try to talk to him for you. Tell him the story and see if it does anything…" Remus gave Harry a sad smile.

"Thanks, Moony. I'm glad the beyond sent you back."

"I am too. It would be awfully boring up there, and I would have missed watching Voldemort get defeated. That was really something. Well, I'm off."

"Good luck. You should try dropping a heavy object on his head. It might break through the stubbornness."

* * *

Even Remus couldn't get through Ron's new coldness. Harry was having trouble teaching his sixth year Defense class because Ron couldn't get along with anyone. Finally, sick and tired of waiting for Ron to decide he was going to talk, he decided to make him talk. "Hermione, Daphne, please pass out these quizzes. You will have until next class to finish them and you can use any resource you wish, though I wouldn't recommend asking Professor McGonagall. She knows absolutely nothing about this particular group of spells. Weasley, I want you to step into my office." Harry looked at him. Ron glared, but complied. It wasn't like he could defy a teacher, even a teacher who was supposed to be his best friend, in front of his whole class.

Harry shut the office door behind them, and sealed it with magic. "Do I need to threaten you with truth potion to make you tell me why you won't talk to me, won't look at me? Why you broke up with Hermione, and how in the world you managed to get two months worth of detentions from my mother and brother?"

"No. You don't need to threaten me. I'm ready to talk."

Harry sat down, and indicated for Ron to do the same. "I'm ready to listen."

"I've been a really big idiot lately, Harry."  
"No kidding," Harry muttered.

"It was hard for me, when I was in Voldemort's captivity. He didn't do anything to us physically, but it was bad for me emotionally. Every day he would take me out of that room and make me repeat over and over that I hated you and that I was a poor excuse for a wizard and a lot of other stuff that I really don't want talk about. The thing is that I started believing what he made me say. I couldn't face you and I didn't want to." Ron blushed to the tips of his ears. "There's something else. I was jealous of you again. Once I again, in my mixed up little world, you had everything and I had nothing. After Remus told me that story…I realized that for all of those years, when you were a little kid, and once you came to Hogwarts, you had to put up with a lot of stuff that no one should have to. You had nothing, and I was the one who had everything that you wanted. You should have been jealous of me, all those years. You weren't though. You stood by my side and defended me even at those times that I wouldn't have defended you. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to be angry with you anymore, Harry."

"You know, Ron. There are some perks to being my best friend."Harry grinned.

"Like what?"

"Well, Oliver Wood's just been named keeper of the Chudley Cannons…and offered tickets to his old teammates. He gave me the tickets that would've gone to Fred and George."

"You've got to be kidding me. I've always wanted to go!"

"Just think about that, Ron. Who else would I get to go with me? All the Slytherins are Puddlemere fans, and most of the Gryffindors are too…Ginny doesn't even like them. She just pretends to, so that you don't get mad." Harry's eyes went wide. "Wasn't supposed to let that slip."

"Don't worry, I won't tell her you said that. I've known for years, anyway. I was just waiting for someone to tell me."

A/n: This will probably be the last chapter for a few weeks. I'll be busy...although, with this story, the chapters come fairly easy...and it only takes me about an hour or two for each chapter. I may find some time, depending on how much this chapter is read. THANKS FOR READING AND REVIEWING FOLKS!


	29. Chapter 29:She's a hag

* * *

"Harry! If you don't hurry up, we're not going to have time to buy all of our Christmas presents in Hogsmede!" Ginny, let into Severus and Harry's quarters by the Potion Master himself, yelled at the door.

Harry opened the door, completely ready to go wherever his girlfriend wanted him to. "How in the world did you get in here, Ginny? I don't recall giving you the password." Harry glared at Severus. "You are a mean older brother, you know that?"

Severus just smirked. "I have no idea what would lead you to that conclusion, Harry. I do know that if we don't get outside soon, you two are going to have a hard time finding decent gifts for your friends."

The three walked across the grounds through the knee-deep snow. "Tell me again why Dad chose the day after a blizzard for a Hogsmede day. Sometimes I wonder about him," Harry whined.

"You're just bothered because my dear brother and Hermione didn't wait for us. That'll just make it easier to buy their presents then, won't it?" They continued to trudge through the snow. After stopping for a bit of breakfast at the Hog's Head, the three started shopping.

The first store they went to, Quality Quidditch Supplies, was for Ron's gift. Even though Harry was giving him the Chudley Cannons tickets, he wanted to get him something else. "Harry, come and see these robes. Ron would love them!" Harry was quite sure that Ron would love the ridiculous orange robes, and he was also quite sure that they would clash horribly with Ron's hair.

"Those are official game style robes. If we bought him those, we'd have to get him those nice," the word nice received a snort from Severus, "boots to go with it."

"I've got enough for the boots, and if you have enough for the robes, we won't have to buy him another present ever again." Ginny clapped with glee. "This day is looking up."

"Who's next on your list, Harry? After looking at all of those horrible orange robes, I'd like to go into a store that's a bit easier on the eyes."

Harry consulted the piece of parchment in his pocket. "Dad. I know the perfect shop! I saw it as we were walking out of the Hogshead. Come on!" Harry took his girlfriend by the hand and exuberantly walked down the street toward the shop he had seen. "Here it is. 'Socks for Everyone', I thought it would be perfect."

'Socks for Everyone' had socks from floor to ceiling, on every wall, and on several racks set up through the store. Harry was attracted to the socks on the rack titled 'unusual.' Harry and Ginny had fun looking through the socks that came in every color, every size, and every possible pattern. "You should buy these for him." Ginny whispered, nodding her head at Severus. The socks in question were fuzzy and black with little orange bats flying all over them.

"I like those. How about these for Dad?" Harry held up a pair that said 'I love cats,' had tiny tabby cats, which looked a lot like his mother's animagus form, on them.

Ginny giggled. They found several more pairs for various people on their list. After visiting some of the more unusual stores, they went to the bookstore, finding a few books for Hermione and a few for Severus. "I'm supposed to meet Luna at the Three Broomsticks now."

"That's the perfect opportunity for me to find a really nice present for you then, isn't it?" Harry grinned. "Well, come on Severus. We have to find the perfect gift for my princess."

* * *

Harry already had the perfect gift in mind. He grabbed Severus by the hand, and dragged him toward a tiny shop beyond the main street. "I saw something in here last time, when I went to Hogsmede with Mum. I know Ginny would love it."

"Ah, Professor Snape, Mr. Dumbledore, what can I do for you this fine day?" The proprietor of the small jewelry shop was a short, ancient woman with kindly blue eyes was only too ready to help Harry with whatever he needed.

"I was in here recently and I saw a necklace that I would like to get for my girlfriend for Christmas. It was a little golden lion with emeralds for eyes and it was also a locket." Harry really hoped that it hadn't been sold already.

"I've still got it. Would you like me to gift wrap it for you?"

"Please." Harry took the small box from the witch and he and Severus headed back to the main road to walk back to Hogwarts. Ginny was going to walk back with Luna, so they didn't have to wait for her.

"Minerva, do we have to visit my mother for Christmas? Do we really have to? I've spent every single one of my more than one hundred fifty Christmases with that woman and I don't want to spend any more with her. Every Christmas, she makes my life horrible by telling all sorts of weird stories about my childhood. Besides, I don't think Harry needs to meet her. She's not going to live that long anyway." While Harry and Severus, along with the rest of the students and staff who were able, were at Hogsmede, Albus was desperately trying to get out of visiting his mother for Christmas.

"Nonsense, Albus. You say the same things every single year. Harry should meet his grandmother, even if she is an ancient, slightly crazy hag. She likes Severus, too. That means that she'll probably like Harry."

"Minerva, lots of people like Severus. He's a very good son, but that doesn't mean that we have to go."

"Grandmother will be heartbroken if you don't spend Christmas with her, Dad." James, Sirius, and Remus floated into Minerva's office. "You know how she is."

Sirius and Remus looked at James as if he were crazy. "Jamie, your grandmother is scarier than my dear old mum, and that is saying something."

"She's scarier than my mum, too, Sirius, and my mum has a Dark Mark." Remus shuddered at the thought of his mother.

"True, true, but my family has more former death eaters than yours. My brother, Bellatrix, Lucious, Rodulphus,..."Sirius couldn't think of any more Death Eaters associated with his family so he stopped rambling long enough for Remus to stop him from saying any more.

"So? What does that have to do Jamie's grandmother's scariness?"

"Absolutely nothing, I just thought I'd point that out."

James rolled his eyes at his best friends. Sometimes he wondered how he ever managed to stay sane around them. "Really, Dad, you should go, even if Grandmum is the second creepiest person/thing ever to walk the planet. Are you sure she's completely human? It isn't normal to live past one hundred sixty or seventy, you know, and she's two hundred and three."

Albus shrugged. "There's the possibility of her having some Veela blood, and they tend to live longer, I suppose."

"Well, I'm glad that's all settled. Albus, when will we be leaving for your mother's home in Paris?"Minerva asked.

"Right after the train leaves on the twenty-third," he sighed. Minerva always won.


	30. Chapter 30: You've got to be kidding

Harry stood in the entry hall watching his girlfriend walk toward the carriages that were taking nearly everyone home for Christmas. Only a select few students, mainly those from families of Death Eaters like Jenna and Edwin Flint, and those who came from abusive families like Bertie Mitchell and Charlene Winters, had signed up to stay over the holidays. None of the troublemakers were staying, so Professors Sprout and Sinistra had volunteered to stay and supervise. Harry, of course, was going to his grandmother's home in Paris.

"Harry, are you going to stand there all day? We need to get to the Ministry so that we can take an authorized portkey to Grandmother's house." Severus rolled his eyes. "Not that any of us really care about making sure that all of our portkeys are authorized, but you know how Mum is about rules."

Harry gave his brother a grin. "Like you're Mr. I'm-So-Easy-On-Rule-Breakers?"

"I never said I was. I just happen not to like the Ministry very much."

"Join the club. I'm not fond of them either. They didn't even offer me an Order of Merlin for getting rid of Snake-face," Harry said with an absolutely straight face as the two brothers walked toward Albus' office.

Severus' right eyebrow shot up. "I wasn't aware that you actually wanted one. You usually shy away from anything that gives people a reason to shower excessive attention on you."

"Sure, now he figures that out," Harry muttered. "I don't want one; I was just saying that I thought they would have offered."

They found their luggage already waiting when they arrived in the office. "I thought you two were never going to get here. Did you stop and eat a feast on the way up?" Minerva was in full mother/teacher mode. Severus and Harry shared a look. It was obvious that she wasn't particularly thrilled to go on the trip they were about to take.

"We're here now, Mum. Severus would have been here earlier, but he had to get me because I walked Ginny down to the doors. I'm not going to see her until we get back from the holiday, you know. I had to make sure that she had all of the presents for her family and Hermione, and I had to give Hermione Ginny's present." Harry waved a hand over his luggage and put the shrunken version in his pocket.

"Well, go through. Your father is already there, sorting things out and making sure that we'll be able to return. Severus, you and Harry go first." Since the fireplace was big enough for two Hagrid-sized people to fit through, they both stepped in at the same time. Neither one wanted to spend anymore time with their cranky mother than necessary. Harry fell on top of Severus as they exited the fireplace at the Ministry.

"You need to work on that, Harry. Next time, you're going first, and you can fall on Dad instead."

Albus, in robes of striped red and green that made Severus want to head for the nearest rubbish bin, whispered to Harry, who was nearest him, "I apologize for the mood your mother is in this morning. The Weasley twins were being rather irritating."

"When are the Weasley twins not irritating? Jamie and I were never that annoying."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "Then which set of twins was it that turned your mother blue when we had you for the summer when you two were five?" Severus looked away. "And who turned Professor Sprout's food into mushrooms for a week when she stayed at our home when you were six?" Severus blushed, something Harry was pretty sure he had never seen him do before. "Are you sure that you also were not the twins who turned all of the Hogwarts letters into goldfish when you were seven?"

"Okay, so we were that irritating. We grew out of it, though." Albus shook his head. "Fine, we didn't. It would have been much worse if we were in the same house though." He did not want Harry to hear anymore of the strange things that he and James did.

Minerva came through the fireplace into the Transportation Office at the same time that James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus decided to make their appearance. "You really turned all of the Hogwarts letters into goldfish, Jamie?" Lily glared at him. "I thought that you were making that up."

Severus groaned. "Don't get him started, Lily. Yes, we really did. We have a portkey to catch, you know."

"We're coming with you. We couldn't let Harry face the creepiest woman alive without a little extra protection. No offence, Harry." Sirius patted the air above Harry's shoulder, not wanting to give Harry a sudden chill. It was already cold enough in that office.

"Noon portkey to the French Ministry of Magic for the Dumbledore party of four persons and four ghosts," the witch at the desk called, holding out a long piece of rope. Everyone grabbed on and they were off.

The French Ministry building surprised Harry. It was newer and less adorned than the British building that Harry was used to. As they walked through the wide corridors, Severus had to keep a hand on Harry's shoulder to direct him because Harry was so busy looking around. Severus decided that it was probably a good thing that Harry wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, because then he would have noticed all of the people that were staring at them as they walked by. He figured that they weren't just staring at Harry, the Defeater-of-You-Know-Who, or whatever the Daily Prophet had come up with recently, because both Severus and Albus were both well-known figures in the wizarding world.

"How are we getting to Grandmum's house, Dad? Does she have a floo connection or something like that?" Harry said as soon as they got outside.

"We'll be walking through the French equivalent of Diagon Alley. Her house is a few blocks off of the main street." Albus pushed open the gate that locked the narrow pathway between two brick buildings. 

The French Ministry opened right onto the wizarding shopping district because there were only two large wizarding villages in France, unlike the several that were scattered through Britain. Albus let them past three bookstores, two joke shops, and one café before making a left turn by the Apothecary.

"You might be shocked when you see the house for the first time, Harry," James whispered, for he two had noticed Minerva's mood and decided not to bother her, lest she borrow the spell Voldemort used to contain ghosts. "It's huge. Our Aunt Margret and her husband Michael live there with all of their children and grandchildren as well. Their two children are around Severus and my age, and their grandchildren are around yours. You should know them, they go to Hogwarts, don't they, Severus?"

"They do. Zacharias Smith is Cousin Rebecca's son and the Goldstein brothers, Anthony and whatever the fifth year's name is, are Cousin Tabitha's."

Harry's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious, Sev. I cannot be related to that pompous, self-righteous, thinks-he's-better-than-everyone-else-should-be-a-Slytherin-but-isn't idiot!"

"You are. He won't be here until late tonight because they're coming from London. For whatever reason, he always takes the train." Severus pondered that for a moment. "I'm not really fond of him either. How does it work having him and Malfoy in the same class? He didn't make it into my Potions class, so I wouldn't know."

"About as well as Hagrid's stupid blast-end skrewts cooped up in a box would. It's horrible. Neither of them are willing to listen to me, though Malfoy has demonstrated that he has the skills to back up the attitude," Harry crossed his arms. "Please tell me I'm not going to have to room with him. Anthony's okay, I wouldn't mind rooming with him, but no way would I want to room with Smith."

"That all depends on what Grandmum says. Her word is law." Severus grinned. "Hopefully, you'll get stuck with me. You wouldn't mind that as much, would you?"

"You sleep across the hall from me at Hogwarts. You don't snore any louder than Ron and Neville, so I'm not really worried if I have to sleep in the same room as you." Harry skipped ahead a few steps to avoid Severus' hand.

"I do not make any loud noises in my sleep. You're the one who sounds like a dying hippogriff when you sleep."

James, Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Lily all stopped for a moment to look at Severus. "When in the world did you ever hear a dying hippogriff?"

"Oh, look we're here!" Severus pointed out, trying to avoid answering the unusual question. Harry almost ran into his mother when they all stopped at the tall iron gates.

The Dumbledore Family Home, which had been in the Dumbledore family for several hundred years, was the creepiest building Harry had ever seen. It was a mansion with thick walls made of some kind of 

black stone that Remus and Lily said was a rare type of magical granite. "Did our family used to be Dark or something? This place already gives me the creeps."

"Your ancestor, Charles Dumbledore, the son of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw was somewhat of a Dark wizard. He's the one that built this house," Lily informed them.

"That's correct, Lily. How did you know that? That's supposed to be a family secret. No one is supposed to know that a whole bunch of the Dumbledores have been Dark."James looked at her, aghast.

Lily bonked him upside the head. "Jamie, did you really think that I was going to marry into your family without extensively studying the family history first? That and I had a lot of time on my hands in the beyond." She shrugged. "It was kind of interesting."

"She sound's like Hermione," Harry said, not for the first time, as they headed down the long pathway to the house.

"She was worse when she was alive," Sirius whispered to Harry.

"I heard that, Sirius Black. You are going to get it later, you know."

It was going to be a very interesting Christmas holiday; that was for sure.

A/n: Please, please, please review! This, by the way, is the longest chapter by far. The last chapter was sort of filler, but this one gives a bit of set up for the upcoming chapters.


	31. Chapter 31: Can this get worse?

"Thank Merlin you're here, Albus. Mother invited Caroline Lupin, and I cannot figure out why, or where to put her. She's quite offensive to the other occupants of the house, you know." A slim woman with long silver hair and a long, thin nose greeted them at the door. The ghosts, Severus, and Harry looked at each other with distaste.

"Why in the world would she invite that woman? You do know she's a marked Death Eater, don't you, Margaret?" Minerva looked at her sister-in-law, aghast. "That woman hates Harry with a passion."

"So I've heard several times, out of her mouth, when she saw your family picture on the mantel. Michael got so sick of hearing her that he just stunned her."

Remus and Lily rolled their eyes. "We apologize. Our mother isn't the best company, Margaret."

"You're telling me. Come in, everyone. It's lovely to finally meet you. Your mother has told me a lot about you." She patted Harry on the arm. "You'll be sleeping in Anthony and Zacharias' room. Everyone else can take their usual rooms."

Harry gave his brother a look of annoyance. "Do I have to sleep in the same room as Smith, Aunt Margaret? You see, I teach his Defense class, and he doesn't like me very much."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but there's not really much we can do about that for tonight. Our house might look big, but half of the rooms are filled with ancient furniture with some sort of dark magic on them. The only rooms large enough for proper bedrooms are going to be filled."

Harry sighed, and followed the rest of his family into the house. "I'm sneaking into your room, Sev. I don't care if you snore."

"Whatever you say, Harry." Severus patted Harry on the back. He wouldn't want to sleep in the same room as the annoying Hufflepuff either.

"Who was at the door, Margaret? If it was one of those traveling cauldron salesmen again, the Minister is going to get an earful." Harry hadn't realized that it was possible for someone to look so very old, but his grandmother certainly changed his mind.

"No, Mother. It was Albus and his family." Margaret motioned for Harry to come closer to the chair where the ancient woman sat, surrounded by fluffy pillows and several kneazles. "This is your youngest grandchild, Godric. He prefers to be called Harry, though. He…"

"I know what he did, dear. He, unfortunately for all of us, killed the Dark Lord. That was a shame; I rather liked his ideas about getting rid of muggleborns." Her eyes narrowed at Harry. "Nevertheless, Harry is still family, and we sometimes overlook large mistakes where family is concerned."

Severus, who had been standing next to his younger brother, kept a restraining hand on the sixteen- year-old's shoulder. He knew exactly what Harry could, and would not hesitate, to do to their grandmother, or anyone else who had been a follower of Voldemort, and he wanted to make sure nothing happened.

"That's enough, Mother," Albus said firmly. He, too, knew what Harry could do. "We've had a long trip, and none of us are in the best of moods. Sister, do you think we could get something to eat. We didn't have any lunch, and supper is a long way off."

"I'll have a house elf send something up to the other sitting room." Margaret hurried off toward the kitchens, and Albus led his family members up the long, winding staircase that led to the upstairs parlor.

"That, Minerva dear, is exactly why I had reservations about coming to Christmas this year. If Severus and I hadn't been silently casting spells on Harry, he probably would have killed her." Albus wearily reclined on one of the leather couches.

"Wow, Jamie. You were right. I think your grandmum is worse than my mum and Moony and Lily's mum combined!" Sirius whispered theatrically.

"No kidding, Padfoot. I told you she was nasty, but you wouldn't believe me." James crossed his arms. "At least your mum didn't have a Voldie-shrine in her bedroom."

"Mother has a Voldemort shrine in her bedroom? I wasn't aware that he had been giving out signed photos or merchandise."Albus eyes went wide. At his age, it wasn't every day that you learned something new, especially new things about your mother.

"You didn't know that, Dad? At the place in Hogsmede where we went to get a few Christmas presents, they had Voldemort T-shirts, Voldemort posters; they even had Voldemort socks… everything you could possibly want." Harry grinned. "It was kind of creepy, wasn't it, Sev?"

Severus rolled his eyes. It had been slightly disconcerting to see Voldemort's face on a T-shirt. "A bit, though the socks with my face on them were slightly more disturbing."

"I wish I still could wear socks… I always wanted socks with my dear twin brother's picture on them!" James gave a rather accurate demonstration of a 'fan girl.'

"I do know that spell Voldemort used to lock you in that room, Jamie. I would use it, but for some reason, Harry, Remus, Lily, and Sirius like you." Severus glared at the grinning ghost.

Harry laughed at the scene and grabbed a sandwich off of the tray that an ancient house elf had brought in. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/n: Sorry this chapter took so long. I was recovering from my four days at Journalism camp…okay, so there wasn't much to recover from, except for the thirty or so mosquito bites I managed to get. I was also suffering from a bit of writers block on this chapter. Expect another one out soonish.


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